toronto.com, a local
portal, has disclosed the results of a recent December 1999 study of greater
Toronto area residents using the Internet.
The survey results show that just over two million, or 51 percent, of all greater
Toronto adults use the Internet each month. Just under half of these adults
(47 percent) say they depend on the Internet to make informed purchasing decisions.
“This market trend closely mirrors our experiences,” said George Jewell,
General Manager of toronto.com.
He said that the survey showed that eight out of every ten users of
toronto.com visit the site to find shopping information, 61 percent of them deal
with a business they find on toronto.com, and that two-thirds of them have
never dealt with the particular business before.
“These survey results clearly demonstrate how consumer focus has grown and
shifted from passively surfing the Net to actively getting things done,” Jewell added.
A popular online city guide, toronto.com’s page view growth in 1999 exceeded
that of all top 25 North American Web sites.
Results of the study show a 108 percent increase in toronto.com’s page views during
the past year.
Page views as of January 31, 2000 were 7.2 million per month. Present visits
total 1.2 million per month, 305,578 of which are unique users.
The site provides in-depth content and services for Toronto and surrounding
areas with searchable information on more than 200,000 shops and services,
as well as hotels, restaurants, arts and entertainment, travel, community
organizations, and sports.
The site also provides users with features, reviews, contests, and a number
of interactive resources such as an event finder, e-mail newsletters, maps,
polls, coupons, and virtual tours of businesses.