ServiceMetrics has been charting download times as well as transaction times for ecommerce sites for two years. In that time Merlo said he has not seen an appreciable improvement in website performance. This is due mostly to the increasing complexity of the services delivered by top sites. In some cases however, the company has identified ads and advertisers that slow download times, while demanding faster download times from they sites they purchase ads on. But it could become a limiting factor.
People are less tolerant of slow download times.
They want to navigate a site quickly and efficiently. ServiceMetrics data show that download speed doesn't necessarily a market leader make. Auctions leads eBay in download time by a full two seconds, but it hasn't given the portal's auction site anything near a corresponding competitive advantage. Merlo said design, efficient ISP service and other server issues are critical for web developers and marketers to play close attention to. He said broadband and rich media applications, with their longer download times, will make the efficiency of the rest of the page more important as those applications develop.