The Web may turn out to be the new hot investment tip of our times. According to a study by ActivMedia ([email protected]), Web sales revenues could reach $118 million this year, with 22 percent of the commercial Web sites being profitable.
In an 88-page study entitled Who’s Succeeding on the Internet and How? (at , the company draws a compelling picture of how companies currently use the Internet. While 14 percent of the respondents said they were “totally disappointed” with their sites’ results, an overwhelming 62 percent said their site was either already profitable or that they were expecting a profit within the next year or two. The remaining respondents said they did not expect to make a profit but found their Web site useful for information and public relations purposes.
“We were really surprised by the results,” said Jeanne Dietsch, ActivMedia Inc. vice president. “We didn’t know what we were going to get, given that the industry gossip said no one was making money.” The study, which excluded Internet-related products (Web consulting, Internet service providers, et al.), found that high-tech, business-to-business, and niche markets were the most successful products on the Web. “A lot of the companies making money are taking advantage of the Internet to provide samples on their sites,” said Dietsch.