SIDN published the first edition of its report ‘Trends in internet use’ in 2012. The report contained an in-depth analysis of how apps, mobile devices and social media are influencing the demand for domain names. SIDN has since carried out several repeat surveys in order to monitor developments. An update to the original report is now available, in which the results are reviewed by an expert panel. The update is intended to provide a picture of how our internet use is changing and what the implications are for the internet in the Netherlands.
The expert panel whose views were sought for the report Research Trends in internet use 2013 consisted of:1. Ben van der Burg, BNR presenter, CCO Triple IT2. Klaas Weima, social media expert, founder and director of Energize3. Jeroen Bertrams, online marketing expert, Bertrams.net4. Henri de Jong, co-founder of Mijndomein.nl5. Frank Meeuwsen, digital strategist6. Ruud Alaerds, director of Keala Consultancy
Tablets popular, but phablets are coming
The survey findings indicate that 2013 was the year of the tablet. By the middle of the year, 39 per cent of all respondents said that they had a tablet, compared with 30 per cent in 2012. What's more, the tablet was rated better for accessing the internet than the much more widely owned smartphone. So it would appear that the future belongs to tablets. However, the expert panel pointed out that phablets (large-format smartphones, with screens of 5 inches or more) had been appearing on the market since 2012 and are expected to become one of the most popular devices for accessing the internet in years to come.
Social media remain popular, but the hype has passed.
In 2012, businesses were expecting social media to become much more important to their activities. Now, however, it appears that most businesses have already embraced social media and relatively little further growth is foreseen in the next three years. In the business market, the trend towards creating promotion-specific and campaign-specific websites aimed at particular target groups has continued to gather pace. For the moment, at least, social media use does not seem to be displacing domain name use.
More private individuals have their own domain names, but businesses expect to acquire far fewer
The number of domain names in the Netherlands continues to grow, mainly due to the demand from private registrants. The number of private domain name registrants increased over the last year. In 2012, there was no one who owned a domain name in 74 per cent of households. By 2013, that figure had fallen to 69 per cent. Meanwhile, the percentage of non-registrants planning to get a domain name had halved, from 5 per cent to 2.6 per cent of all households. Amongst businesses, the demand for domain names declined considerably in 2013. In 2012, businesses were still expecting their domain name portfolios to grow substantially over the next three years: the average portfolio size was forecast to increase from six names to more than eight. Over the course of 2013, expectations changed markedly: the average business now foresees its portfolio growing by no more than 0.7 domain names in the next three years.