Europeans Look to the Web for Maps, Guides and Directions

Latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings reveals that online map websites in Europe, such as multimap.com and streetmap.co.uk in the UK, mappy.com in France, map24.com in Germany and karthotellet.com in Sweden have experienced a growth of almost 300% in the last 12 months.

This makes the online map sector one of the fastest growing Internet sectors in Europe. 2.5 million users visited an online map site during October 2001, and by July 2002, the figure had risen to 7.1 million, with the biggest increase experienced in the summer months of June and July. In France and the UK, a mapping service is the most visited of all online travel sites. Mappy.com in France has a Unique Audience of 947,000 and multimap.com in the UK has a leading position in the travel sector with a Unique Audience of 1,441,000 people.

The online map sites are particularly popular with surfers who use the Internet from their offices: the reach of each site is double for at-work surfers compared to at-home surfers, indicating that online map sites are being used by workers going to meetings or arranging to go out after work.

Tom Ewing, European Analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings says 'This is a great example of the Internet making a practical difference in people's lives. It's the kind of service that easily gets taken for granted but these sites actually have enormous potential. Whilst at present, the majority of these sites provide their information for free, there is a possibility to generate revenue from them in the future. Map sites could be combined with local information sites and with new Global Positioning System technology and really changing the way we go about organising and arranging our social and business lives. Currently there may be two or three local mapping sites in every market, but there is no key pan-European player as yet - if you're looking for the 'new Google' this sector is an interesting place to start.'

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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