Well, the jury is still out, but Liesbeth Hop, president of Pro Active International, an Internet research company, believes Internet companies hoping to gain share in Europe must keep it local. And while Michael Jordan may be an icon in London and some Parisians eat at McDonalds, Europeans prefer home-grown companies that use their country's suffix. Jupiter Communications supports that assessment. Hop also advises against headquartering European operations in London. Set up shop in Amsterdam or Paris instead.
European opportunities abound.
Access is set to improve as free ISPs set up shop and governments in some countries support initiatives to widen use of broadband technology. Internet traffic in Europe is currently driven by supply, not demand, according to Hop. This means that Internet users looking for sites in under-represented categories, such as games and entertainment, are ripe for picking. Online Europeans visit sites they hear about in other media. But, according to Pro Active, they're generally less jaded than Americans about online advertising.