Many bright ideas were transformed into business plans sufficiently credible to separate gullible investors from their money. Of course the party could not last and the year 2000 ended with many of these enterprises out of business or taken over by more substantial and secure undertakings - often those with established 'terrestrial' businesses. It is easy with the benefit of hindsight to pick holes in, even ridicule, some of the business models which but a short year ago found ready investors. And of course mismanagement has played a part in the downfall of many. But the fact is that the medium is still very young and internet-consumer behaviour insufficiently understood, so there is plenty of room for getting it wrong.
People use the internet mostly for sending and receiving email messages.
An ongoing survey of US usage by the Pew Foundation reveals that 47 per cent of users send and receive email every day, while only 4 to 5 per cent regularly shop or bank online. Internet advertising doesn't work. Click through rates are extremely low, less than half a percent, and continue to drop, with users exhibiting a high degree of 'banner blindness' to the extent that they also avoid links which look like ads. Even though consumers are not yet ready to pay, businesses are realising that they must charge for the services they currently offer for free. The most-visited US legal portal site FindLaw has slashed advertising rates and other US sites have cut advertising spend and been the subject of takeover.