The Internet: now one billion served

Jakob Nielsen notes that the Internet now has more than one billion users. Even more interesting are the new demographics:

According to Morgan Stanley estimates, 36% of Internet users are now in Asia and 24% are in Europe. Only 23% of users are in North America, where it all started in 1969 when two computers -- one in Los Angeles, the other in Palo Alto -- were networked together.

It took 36 years for the Internet to get its first billion users. The second billion will probably be added by 2015; most of these new users will be in Asia. The third billion will be harder, and might not be reached until 2040.

I hope this explains why so much of the spam you are getting is now in other languages.

But seriously, I think Jakob is onto the fact that this is a wakeup call to those of us who tend to market our Web sites, products, and services assuming a homogeneous audience. North American users are now less than one quarter of Internet users. It is time for marketers to remember that no matter what you are saying or selling, you are addressing a global audience that demands international usability.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Business, Internet, Marketing, Usability, Web, Web advertising