The digital space in 2011 and beyond

In AMPS 2006 RA, just over one million adults (16+) logged onto the Internet 'yesterday'. Now, 2.623 million adults (15+) log on. Then, past four week access was 6.4%. Now, it is 13.4%.

Rise in online activity

There has also been a rise in online activity, thanks to higher cellphone and computer ownership, which is shifting more people online. In 1996, only 2.4% of South Africa's 16+ adult population had access to a cellphone, according to AMPS 1996. In 2006, this had risen to just over half of all adults (AMPS Jan-June 2006) and, today, almost 74% of the 15+ population has access to a cell (AMPS Jun 2010).

That's a whole lot more people who now have the potential to surf online over their mobiles.

While online activity is up, we're also seeing a change in what South Africans are doing online. Where once SA sites dominated, we've seen a definite move to Google and Facebook as the dominant online destinations. Not that we don't still appreciate the 24s and IOLs of this world, but we're seeing a shift to the bloggers on Memeburn and the outsiders on The Daily Maverick.

And, as Internet usage rises, so too will the medium's ability to attract adspend.

Value for spend

During the recession, we saw that the online media owners and online news elite were no less vulnerable than their hardcopy siblings, since advertisers, despite valuing the channel as a way to get more products sold, tend to forget this during tough economic times. Yet online media still holds a good position when it comes to value for spend, with its unique ability to get through to the right potential clients.

Online's ability, however, to gather data on what the customer likes and doesn't like, is not without controversy. And this fascinates me. It is fine for a restaurant to adjust its menu when it notices its customers prefer chicken dishes to beef. So why is it an invasion of privacy if we serve specific adverts to men who like cars and to women who like makeup? Rugby players prefer beer, golf players prefer whisky. If the user has just visited a golf site, then I'll serve up a whisky ad...

What scares us is the holding of this data, that someone out there - Big Brother perhaps - knows where we've been online. We perceive the online media's holding of the strings as a danger, an invasion. Cookies are everywhere and your browser holds a lot of information you might not want the world to know. And that they know me well enough to send me relevant ads? That scares us, to let go of our identity in this way.

Get annoyed if it's not relevant

Yet, at the same time, we are so used to customising everything to suit our own taste, needs and lifestyle that we expect to see content that fits our profile all the time. In fact, we get annoyed if it's not relevant.

The trend globally is now to find out even more, so that we can make advertising and other content even more relevant to web users. The privacy invasion will continue.

Another worldwide online trend is the continuous rise of virtual buying and selling of goods and services. Book sites are selling more 'soft', downloadable books than hard copies now. There is increased comparative buying of goods, as well as buying new products over the Internet at a better price than at the store on the High Street.

This same High Street is changing drastically, as stores move out of their traditional premises and the only way to visit the little antique bookstore now is via a browser. Prices drop as the rent of space is no longer applicable. Post offices are booming as five pairs of shoes are shipped to an address and three are subsequently returned.

Coming of age

And what will we see happening locally? As bandwidth in Africa starts to come of age, so too will the industry. More and more, people will use their fingers to get work done. We'll see Twitter used as a tool to get projects done as email becomes clogged with too much clutter. Companies and individuals alike want instant gratification without making a call or a visit. So we'll use MSN or Skype messaging more, getting answers that we can time and date stamp so that we can track progress. "Tweet not what you are doing. Tweet what you'll be doing about it."

As connectivity continues to rise, more advertisers will look for specific spaces to get their message across. Specialised computer programs or apps are flourishing, as are niche sites. Car sites, women's sites, and even baby sites are doing well. As advertisers look for specific future clients on niche sites, media owners will mine the data of their users to give them appropriate ads to click on.

The future of SA's online industry is indeed bright.