I’ve seen a lot of nationalities get insulted online, and no one seems to detect and respond to those insults as quickly as the French. Now I know why: according to a new Forrester Research study, young French Internet users are more likely than just about anyone else in Europe to visit a blog.
France, Sweden Top Europe In Blog, Internet Use
The AFP reports, “The study showed that 72 percent of 12-24 year-olds in France consulted blogs at least once a month and sent in comments at least once monthly.” Granted, to those of us who visit at least 30 blogs a day, that might not sound like much, but let’s be honest – in this respect, we’re at a pretty odd part of the bell curve.
As impressive as France’s accomplishment is, then, Sweden actually managed to beat the country in a related measurement. To again reference the Forrester Research report, the AFP states, “Swedish youngsters out-paced all others in terms of daily internet use, with 88 percent in the 12 to 24 year age bracket consulting the web every day compared to an average 79 percent in the seven European countries researched in the third quarter this year.”
National trends such as these will obviously have an effect on many, many companies. Forrester’s report could even influence the decisions of some of them. At the same time, it’s hard not to notice that things seem to be playing in Google’s favor.
In France, Google’s market share is around 90 percent. If France’s youth are such serious bloggers, then they’re presumably responsible for at least part of this accomplishment, and so Google may be able to count on their support in the years ahead. In Sweden, the example is less impressive, but still important; not long ago, Google partnered with the “Nordic media market”’s self-described search leader, Eniro.
