They're sure to increasingly target female Web users, who, in France, tend to favor cultural, practical, and family topics. France is also less open to international sites than its neighbors, which tend to favor American e-commerce sites, for example, over local ones. In France, three of the country's five most popular Web domains are French, and include Wanadoo, Free, and LibertySurf. According to Fabienne Schwalbe, managing director for MMXI France, personal Web pages have largely contributed to the boom in Internet use. In fact, the French are extremely attached to leisure sites in general.
Online games are, therefore, a big hit in France, with one in five Web users taking part.
One favorite is online lottery bananalotto.fr, thanks largely to its presence in the media and its strategic ad campaigns. Sites offering sports news, especially during major events such as the Olympics and the French Open, also saw their audience numbers explode this year. French Web users connecting to music sites also are steadily on the rise, at roughly 1 million. Surprisingly, though, the site attracting a third of these users is Universalmusic.fr. In fact, in contrast to predictions, free music sites drew only moderate numbers of French Web users for the year.