A recent report by the Commerce Commission of New Zealand has found that most of the biggest broadband internet providers deliver the slowest and most unreliable services.

High speed connections from Telecom, Vodafone and Slingshot have all been reported as delivering average or below average scores in terms of connection speeds and overall reliability for the March 08 quarter. Smaller internet service providers such as Compas and Snap out-performed the average scores of the bigger providers.

Telstraclear (who offer both DSL and Cable networks) trumped all competition in the three main centres with the highest scores, but were beaten in Hamilton and Dunedin - where they do not have their own network and resell Telecom’s DSL services. Orcon was the highest-scoring provider in these cities.

The report assessed variables such as time to connect, download and upload times, e-mail receivership times and packet loss levels.

A few months back I received an email response to an NZS.com newsletter article about the government’s plans to increase broadband connection speed funding over the next few years. He made a great point - while we are constantly assessing and evaluating internet speeds in the larger cities, the New Zealand media rarely pay any attention to the often abysmal speeds (or even existence of a high-speed service) in smaller towns and rural areas throughout the country. Will the big ISP’s ever pay serious attention to the internet needs of those off the beaten track in New Zealand (anywhere away from Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch?).

If you’re a rural internet user let us know what you think - how is your service?

Image from Flickr.

We’ve done it again! Each quarter, Hitwise award the ten highest traffic websites in each of its 160+ categories with a shield recognising each website’s success.

For the quarter January-March 2008, NZS.com has placed #5 in both the Business and Finance - Business Directories industry, and the Computers and Internet - Search Engines industry! This status is based on the market share of visits among all New Zealand websites within those industries - so we’re doing pretty well to be in the top five throughout the country in two different categories!

Is your website in the running for a Hitwise award? All you need to do is register for the awards program (which is free), you don’t need to become a Hitwise Member. It’s a great idea to find out if you rank well amongst your competitors, and strive to upstage them for the next quarter. Stay tuned for NZS.com’s placings in the April-June quarter.

High speed Internet is finally gathering momentum in New Zealand - a recent Statistics New Zealand survey found that the total number of NZ broadband Internet users has now overtaken the number of users with dial up Internet connections.

Broadband uptake increased by 14.4% in the six months from March to September 2007, bringing the number of Kiwi broadband users close to 830,000. During the same period, dial up connections dropped by 8.6% to 675,800.

Despite this landmark in our Web-olution, the growth rate for broadband uptake has actually slowed over the last year - from 28.6% for the six months to September 2006, and 18.5% for the period from September 2006 to March 2007.

Take a look at the bigger picture: over the last two years, we’ve seen New Zealand broadband grow from just 9 to a significant 19.6 out of every 100 Kiwi Internet users.

Get connected, check out broadband deals and compare broadband providers in NZ and help us reach the next milestone - 25% of all Kiwis with high speed connections to the Web. And we do still count, even though we’re just a small drop in the ocean of 427 million Internet users worldwide!

A recent survey looking at usage of the Internet by young Brits has found that the Web is replacing television as the entertainment of choice for young people - no doubt the same would be true if New Zealand users were surveyed.

The survey, ordered by social networking giant MySpace, found 25% of people aged between 18 and 24 had reduced their television watching and were now more likely to be networking or socialising online. Not only are they turning from the lure of TV, they’re also giving up video games in favour of Internet browsing.

When online, users are visiting social networking sites (in Australia, time spent on MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and other social sites avereages between 21 and 27 minutes per day), as well as sending emails and instant messages to friends.

So, what’s the crux of this? Young people are choosing socialising online over television and other forms of entertainment… and maybe, over socialising in the real world. It seems that the Web is the new television, so if young Kiwis are following the global trend, they’d prefer to be superpoking on Facebook than watching New Zealand TV. The collaborative virtual world of online networking sites is now officially a phenomenon, but where will it go to from here? How reliant will we become on making social connections in cyberspace?

More than 85% of the world’s Internet users surveyed have purchased something online, according to The Nielsen Company’s Global Online Survey of Internet shopping habits, conducted in October and November 2007. The research company said that more than half of Internet users had made a least one purchase online within the past month.

With an estimated 3.2 million New Zealanders being Internet users, this means that 64% make a purchase online at least once a month - a number that’s high by anyone standards. Research clearly shows that most New Zealanders feel very secure about making a purchase online.

So, what are Internet users buying online? Well, according to Nielsen, the top 5 are:

1. Books (41%)
2. Clothing, accessories and shoes (34%)
3. DVDs, videos and games (24%)
4. Airline tickets (24%)
5. Consumer electronics (23%)

With just over 2 million of New Zealand’s Internet users making a purchase online at least once a month, online shopping is becoming a major player in the retail market.

If you have an e-commerce store, particularly if you’re selling books and clothing then, given current trends, you really need to market your site to take advantage of the boom in online shopping.

NZS.com can help you by providing targeted traffic to your site. For more information, see our online advertising options.

Our personal health and fitness is one of our biggest concerns, so it’s no surprise that we look online for health information, advice, diagnosis, products, insurance, health shops and pharmacies… but what exactly are we looking for?

According to Hitwise, gatherers of online search data and statistics, the top 10 New Zealand health searches for December 2007 were:

1. movember
2. les mills
3. bmi
4. treasures
5. weight watchers
6. pubmed
7. southern cross
8. sparc
9. depression
10. auckland hospital

Viewing and analysing search data such as this can be hugely valuable in terms of creating content, targeting Web users and reading the minds of New Zealand searchers. We’ve got a lot of health issues on our minds, covering:

• Health fund raising - Taking part in the men’s health event of the year (the month formerly known as November)
• Health and fitness - Finding gyms, fitness centres and recreational pursuits
• Weight loss - Calculating Body Mass Index and signing up for Weight Watchers
• Health care - Sourcing private health care, hospitals and PubMed (an online medical information resource)
• Mental health - Depression, an all-too-common symptom of modern living?
• Baby nappies - The essential item for newborns and infants!

Not only is this kind of information useful, it’s also changeable throughout the year; in winter, for instance, ‘cold and flu’ searches will be big, as will any hot current events, such as immunization or bird flu. So, keep an eye on search data - it makes for a fascinating insight into the world of search.

According to an Auckland University of Technology survey - part of an international collaboration on the impact of the Internet on politics, the economy and society - showed New Zealanders tend to prefer the Internet, even over family and friends, as a source of information. The results of the survey showed that:

• About 80 percent of New Zealanders use the Web
• Internet use falls with age
• Internet use is higher for wealthy people and city dwellers
• One in every eight Kiwis have their own website and one in ten are bloggers
• 83 percent of Internet users surf the Web to research products, while 60 per cent buy things online.

Speaking of shopping online, I read in an article that e-commerce revenue in New Zealand is expected to top $1.5 billion this year. Half of that figure, or roughly $750 million, is spent on travel (with Air New Zealand getting a fair chunk of that), while a whopping $500 million goes to Trademe, excluding vehicles and real estate. According to Sam Morgan, Trademe also accounts for a third of the country’s private vehicle sales and $250 million is spent on retail shopping.

Compared to overseas markets New Zealand, and to some extent Australia, are lagging behind. Sales in the US are expected to exceed $200 billion in 2007, while European sales are tipped to exceed $160 billion and grow by 25 percent per annum for the next five years.

Which brings me to one of two conclusions: either society are getting lazy or we hate shopping malls!

More interesting statistics from the world of online search, this time demonstrating clear online search trends as we approach the holiday season. A highlight of many a New Zealand summer is the Kiwi camping holiday - packing the car and heading to the beach, campsite or holiday park with kids, chilly bins and kayaks in tow.

And New Zealand search statistics are showing the popularity of this summer pastime. Reports from Hitwise show that searches relating to the great outdoors have increased significantly in recent weeks. Most of these high ranking search terms are generic (like ‘camping grounds’), but other popular search terms are geographically specific (for instance ‘paihia camping ground’).

Top ten searches relating to camping holidays in New Zealand, for the week ending 8 December, 2007 were:

1. kiwi camping
2. camping grounds
3. camping
4. camping equipment
5. camping gear
6. camping nz
7. camping ground
8. camping sites
9. new zealand camping holidays
10. camping new zealand

So, what can we do with search keyword stats like this? Information on how searchers are finding your website can be used (along with data on what searchers are looking for online) to better tailor your website content and keywords. These statistics also show the power of seasonal search trends (online promotions should take into account the time of year) and region-specific searches (you may not be number one in generic camping term searches, but you could rank highly for a geographically specific search).

And if you’re getting ready to relax over the summer holidays, get sorted for your camping holiday with our directory of New Zealand camping grounds and camping equipment stores.

Have you ever wondered how many domain names are on the New Zealand Web?

Anyone is eligible to register a domain name using extensions such as .co.nz, .org.nz and .net.nz. You don’t need to be a New Zealand company to sign up for a domain and set up your own website. Many individuals and interest groups set up their own online presence, giving them a wider reach in New Zealand and internationally. Some domain spaces - .govt.nz, .mil.nz, .cri.nz and .iwi.nz - are moderated, meaning you must prove your eligibility for the domain extension.

Interesting NZ Internet statistics reveal that as a nation, New Zealand is steadily gathering more domains every year. The New Zealand Domain Name Commission (DNC) records show the total number of website addresses registered in this country. Internet stats for the last ten years (recorded at the end of each calendar year) make interesting reading:

Year - Registered Domain Names in New Zealand

1997 - 16,343
1998 - 26,991
1999 - 47,317
2000 - 83,052
2001 - 103,888
2002 - 120,833
2003 - 142,468
2004 - 174,061
2005 - 209,927
2006 - 261,283

As you can see, registration has continued at an impressive rate, as mentioned in an earlier post on New Zealand domain name statistics.

If putting yourself or your business on the Web is top of your New Year’s Resolution list, browse our list of domain name providers to find an NZ domain name that meets your needs.

It’s interesting to see newly released statistics on household spending in New Zealand - what exactly are we throwing our hard-earned dollars away on?

The Household Economic Survey for the year ended 30 June 2007 was released at the end of last month. The survey provides a comprehensive range of statistics relating to income and expenditure. Some things you might not know about recent household spending trends in New Zealand:

• The average weekly total household expenditure was $956.
• The three largest components of household spending were housing and utilities (23%), food (16%) and transport (14%).
• Households in the Wellington region (our cultural capital) had the highest spend on recreation and culture, at $120 per week.
• Average annual household income was $67,973 for the year, a rise of 10.2% from the 2003/04 year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly we’re getting more techno-fied too, with around one in every five households owning more than one kind of computer - that is, a desktop computer, laptop or hand-held device.

And another pleasing result to come out of the survey - the majority of us (75% in fact) are satisfied or very satisfied with our standard of living. Great to hear!

You can find many more interesting New Zealand statistics online.