internet market accelerates
Transcription
internet market accelerates
Digital lanDscape: polanD DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Polish internet market accelerates I edItIon, january 2008 online advertising v e-commerce v Biggest internet players v Western investors v Market drivers and constraints DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Table of Contents In brief....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 03 1. Poland at a glance .................................................................................................................................................................................... 04 1.1 Internet penetration . ..................................................................................................................................................................... 04. 1.2 Internet users ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 04. 1.3 Online advertising ........................................................................................................................................................................... 04 2. Market overview: biggest players. .............................................................................................................................. 05 2.1 Advertising bureaus and advertising networks................................................................................. 05. 2.2 Biggest online players................................................................................................................................................................... 06. 2.3 Interactive advertising agencies.................................................................................................................................. 10 3. E-commerce.............................................................................................................................................................................................................12 3.1 Online auction platforms......................................................................................................................................................... 12. 3.2 Online shops................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12. 3.3 Polish online shopper.................................................................................................................................................................... 14. 3.4 Threats and concerns..................................................................................................................................................................... 18 4. Market trends in brief...........................................................................................................................................................................19 4.1 New surge of foreign investments........................................................................................................................... 19. 4.2 Going public................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21. 4.3 Investment frenzy................................................................................................................................................................................ 21. 4.4 Interesting facts....................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 5. Getting started: setting up a company in Poland.............................................................................22 5.1 Types of business activity........................................................................................................................................................ 24. 5.2 Tax and inspections........................................................................................................................................................................... 24. 5.3 Competitive landscape............................................................................................................................................................... 25 6. Views on Poland...............................................................................................................................................................................................26 7. About Internet Standard ...............................................................................................................................................................28 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND In brief This first edition of Digital Landscape: Poland report is the most comprehensive study prepared by . a leading online magazine Internet Standard. It gives a unique overview of the Polish internet industry, showing major market players, current and future investment plans, and online adspend forecast. Covering advertising, e-commerce as well as ways of starting a business in Poland, this report is an indispensable study for anyone interested in finding out more about investment opportunities in the country. Digital Landscape: Poland gathers investors and industry leaders’ comments on the country’s development, providing a fresh view on the latest issues. DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 1. Poland at a glance Poland, member of NATO (since 1999) and the European Union (since 2004), has a population of about 38 million people. Gross domestic product per capita in Poland was estimated to be 16,500 USD in 2007. According to the European Commision the level of economic growth in the country was forecast to reach 6.1% in 2007. Warsaw and Cracow are two main cities where internet companies have their headquarters. More and more online business appears in Wroclaw (southwest of the country) and Gdansk (north part of the country). Internet penetration According to SMG/KRC NetTrack research, internet penetration in Poland was around 42%. That means there were 12.8 million internet users (over 15 years old). Another research provider Gemius/PBI estimated that there was in fact a population of 14.09 million users in the country (May 2007). Internet penetration rate in Poland in Q2 2007 was 42% Eurostat’s latest available data on broadband penetration in Europe comes from July 2006. At that point, broadband penetration rate in Poland was only 3.9% compared with 16.5% average in the European Union. That number most probably increased in 2007. Thanks to bitstream access the competition on the ISP market is increasing. According to Eurostat, in January 2007, 53% of Polish companies had broadband internet accesss, when average in European Union is 77%. According to UKE (Urząd Kontroli Telekomunikacji – Telecommunication Ministry) there were 1.7 million broadband connections (above 144 kb/s) in October 2006. Internet users There is about the same number of male (50.8%) and female (49.2%) users. Young people (15-24 years old) form the largest group of internet users. Those who are 60 years old or more represent only 2.1% of the Polish internet population. Polish users are generally well educated. 26.6% of them have university degree, 41% - have completed their A levels. Over two thirds of Polish users surf online every day or almost every day. They go online mostly at home (79.4%). 64,8% of Polish users go online every day Online advertising Interactive Advertising Bureau Polska (IAB Polska) estimates that in 2006 internet advertising market was worth 215 million PLN (60 million EUR), excluding search adverstising. Unfortunately, Google does not disclose its revenues, which makes the process of estimating the value of the market quite difficult. Nevertheless, IAB Polska prompted that paid search advertising could have been worth 60 million PLN (16.6 million EUR) in 2006. That makes a total market value of 275 million PLN (76 million EUR), which means that internet advertising has more than 5% of all media adspend in the country. IAB Polska forecasts that in 2007 internet adspend reached 305 million PLN (84.5 million EUR) and search engine marketing revenues rose up to110 million PLN (30.5 million EUR). According to these estimations online market was worth 415 million PLN (around 115 million EUR) in 2007. Polish internet advertising market in 2007 is estimated to be worth million EUR 115 Online market grows dynamically at a pace of 50% per year and it is the fastest growing sector among all media. DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 2. Market overview: biggest players Google is the most popular website in Poland (it is visisted by 77% of Polish users every month). The second most popular internet destination is Onet.pl, a web portal owned by a large media group ITI. awarded Media&Marketing Best Internet Sales Department Award for three times in a row. Currently there are 500 websites in their portfolio.. Ad.net employs 28 people. Gazeta.pl, owned by Agora, is the most popular newspaper-based website with a monthly coverage of around 42%. ARBOmedia Polska ARBOmedia Polska is one of the biggest internet advertising networks in the country. It gathers round 300 websites (with a reach of 11.7 million of unique users according to Megapanel PBI/ Gemius 2007). Their portfolio consists mainly of entertainment, music and games websites targeting young internet users. In cooperation with one of the global online advertising networks – Oridian - ARBOmedia Poland facilitates ads for English-language business, sports and youth websites. When it comes to the numer of page views, it is Allegro.pl which generates the highest numbers. Allegro (an auction platform) is owned by Tradus (former QXL ricardo). Fotka.pl - a social networking and dating website – has gained a lots of popularity recently and generates more than 2 billion page views per month. ARBOmedia Poland was founded in 2002. The acquisition of one of their rivals – Qnet - was a turning point in company’s history which provided them with a bigger online reach than the main web portals had. In 2005 ARBOmedia Poland introduced its own product: double billboards, which is one of the most popular online ad formats in Poland now. BizOn Media. BizOn media works as a businessfocused advertising network in Poland specializing in targeting entrepreneurs.The company is relatively new and was founded in 2006. It has a reach of 2.6 million users. They gather 45 high-profile websites. BizOn media has been developing its direct sales department, but still its core clients In terms of time spent on the website, Google.pl and Onet.pl lead the way in the rankings. Polish most popular instant messenger is Gadu-Gadu, owned by Gadu-Gadu S.A. (a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange). Gadu-Gadu is used by round 6 million people monthly. Advertising bureaus and advertising networks There are quite a few advertising networks and advertising bureaus operating in Poland. We are presenting some of them. Ad.net. Ad.net was one of the first Polish internet advertising networks, established in 2000. It is a part of Internet Group S.A. holding. From the very beginning Ad.net was focused on incorporating new technologies and empowering their technological capabilities. After being very successful in Poland, they decided to expand their business in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. They claim to have 9.74% share of the Polish market. Ad.net was DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND are the biggest Polish media houses. Since its foundation, over a year ago, the company has launched over 500 campaigns. IDMnet IDMnet was established in 1997 and was the first online advertising network in the country. They gather over 140 websites and are able to reach over 5.5 million users. IDMnet uses DoubleClick adservers. They specialize in building advertising strategies and search marketing campaigns. Biggest online players There are thousands of internet firms operating in Poland. We decided to present only those which are perceived as one of the biggest on the market and which investors will most probably hear about while considering their expansion in Poland. Google Polska Google was founded in the USA in 1998 and developed rapidly, outpacing top internet companies and becoming the world’s most popular search engine. The key to Google’s success is quality and relevance of information. Polish users appreciate Google search engine - it is the most popular website in the country. That was one of the reasons why the company decided to open its office in Warsaw in January 2006. In 2007 Google established a R&D centre in Krakow and an innovation centre in Wroclaw (Poland). Grupa Onet.pl S.A. Grupa Onet.pl runs Poland’s biggest web portal - Onet.pl and also provides various media and communication services. Grupa Onet.pl is part of the leading Polish media group – Grupa TVN (TVN S.A., TVN is listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange). . Onet.pl is a pioneer in the income diversification among Polish web portals. It generates revenues from advertising, paid content services, email and hosting, auction platform, community sites, telecommunication services. Onet.pl is estimated to have 37% of total market share in Poland. It is also one of the strongest brands in the country. Wirtualna Polska (WP) Wirtualna Polska is the second biggest and the oldest web portal in Poland, part of Telekomunikacja Polska/ France Telecom Group. It provides a multimedia and telecommunication platform offering news, entertainment, finance services, blogs, chatrooms, e-business solutions and free e-mail. In 2006 WP launched internet TV (wptv. wp.pl) – the biggest multimedia project in Polish internet. In 2007 WP started to operate as MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). WP’s monthly average reach is 62% (H1’07). Allegro.pl / QXL Poland Allegro is the biggest auction platform in the country run by Polish offices of British holding Tradus (former QXL ricardo) which was acquired by Naspers, a South African media company, in December 2007. For the year ended 31 march 2007 Tradus generated 36.43 million GBP revenues (vast majority of it came from Eastern Europe). British holding owns not only Allegro but also PayBack (which runs Payback.pl, otomoto.pl, otodom.pl) and Ceneo S.A. (which runs a price comparison site Ceneo.pl) Interia.pl SA Interia.pl runs one of Poland’s biggest web portals. The firm was established in 1999 as a result of an online joint initiative of IT and technology producer - ComArch S.A. - and a radio station RMF FM. In December 2000 Interia’s stock was allowed to public DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND trading and since February 2001 the firm is listed on Warsaw Stock . Exchange. In December 2007 Bauer Media Invest GMBH bought the majority of Interia’s shares, taking control of the company. Internet advertising sector is the main area of the company’s activity. The rapid growth that can be observed in that sector is taking place mostly at the expense of other media existing on the market. Interia.pl is the third biggest internet portal in Poland in terms of reach. O2.pl sp. z o. o. O2.pl, established in 1999, is an owner of o2.pl web portal, which offers free email services and an instant messenger (Tlen.pl). The company claims to have 7 million registered email accounts and 1.5 million instant messenger users. Tlen.pl messenger and Tlenofon (VoIP product) have won the Gold Computer 2005 competition organized by Computerworld. O2.pl is the fourth fastest developing technology company in Central Europe according to the 2006 and 2007 Deloitte ranking. Agora S.A. (owner of Gazeta.pl). Agora, one of the biggest media companies in Eastern Europe, owns a web portal Gazeta.pl, Gazeta Wyborcza, one of Poland’s most popular dailies and Metro - a free newspaper. Agora Group also runs AMS, the outdoor advertising, two local radio stations Zlote przeboje and Roxy FM, a cross regional radio station TOK FM as well as manages 13 magazines. Agora was establshed in 1989. Since 1999 it has been listed on the stock exchange in Warsaw and in London. Gazeta.pl is visited by 5.2 million users. Agora’s two thematic vortals, GazetaPraca.pl (recruitment website) and GazetaDom.pl (real estate website) are one of the most popular websites in their categories. GazetaWyborcza.pl is one of the largest online newspapers in Poland. Gadu-Gadu S.A. Established in 2000, Gadu–Gadu S.A. is a company which provides telecommunication and communication services as well as multimedia and social networking websites. Gadu–Gadu instant messenger is regarded as the most popular tool in the country (even to that extend that user’s ID has the same importance as a telephone number or email address). Gadu Gadu launched social networking community MojaGeneracja. pl, Gadu Radio, VoIP services Gadu naGłos, microblogging Blip.pl and education portal Nauka.pl. Gadu Gadu S.A. employes round one hundred people. In the first three quarters of 2007 Gadu-Gadu S.A. generated 14.370.000 PLN (3.98 million EUR) net income and 5.153.000 PLN (1.42 million EUR) net profit. The company is listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange [GGU]. In December 2007 South African media company Naspers bought the majority of shares of Gadu Gadu SA. Interaktywna sp. z o. o. (owner of Fotka.pl) Interaktywna sp. z o.o., established in February 2001, runs Fotka.pl and other websites including auction platform. Fotka.pl employs 36 people in three offices: in Warsaw, Elblag and Gliwice. It is the biggest community website in Poland with 5.5 million registered users. The company broke-even a few years ago. The forecast of their income for 2007 was over 4.5 million PLN. According to Alexa.com, Fotka.pl is 5th popular website in Poland and 86th worldwide. IDG Poland S.A. (owner of IDG.pl, Computerworld.pl, Pcworld.pl, InternetStandard.pl, NetWorld.pl) IDG Poland S.A. is a Polish subsidiary of American publishing office International Data Group. It runs IDG.pl - the biggest IT/ new technologies webportal in the country. IDG.pl also owns: PcWorld.pl – webportal dedicated to PC users. InternetStandard.pl – leading internet industry magazine, Gamestar.pl computer games website, Computerworld.pl – portal dedicated to IT specialist, and dozens of others. Internet DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Top Digital Media Agencies in Poland Fastbridge http://www.initiative.pl Beyond Interactive http://www.gobeyond.pl/ Starcom Next http://www.next.starcom.com.pl/ ZED Digital http://www.optimedia.com.pl/ MRM Worldwide http://www.mrm.pl/ OMD Digital http://www.omd.pl/ ACR http://www.acr.pl/ Source: Internet Standard IDG.pl Group is visited by 3 million users monthly what makes it one of the 20 most popular destinations among Polish internet users. Gemius S.A. Gemius S.A. is the largest online research agency in Central and Eastern Europe. The company has been providing online market analysis since 1999. In 2004, Gemius started operating in Czech Republic after wining a tender for internet audience measurement services. Later Gemius continued its expantion in Central and Eastern Europe launching its branches in Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bulgaria. In 2006, Gemius entered Russian, Dannish and Austrian markets. Travelplanet.pl Travelplanet.pl is a countrywide internet travel agency listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange. It is a member of the Polish Chamber of Tourism. The Travelplanet.pl Group runs also Aero.pl (airplane tickets provider), Hotele24.pl (hotel booking provider) and TravelPass Polska (a firm distributing Travelplanet.pl vouchers). Grupa Pracuj Grupa Pracuj runs recruitment and education websites in Poland and other countries in CEE. (Polish recruitment site Pracuj.pl and Ukrainian Rabota.ua, Edu.pracuj.pl targeting specialists and Edulandia.pl targeting students). Grupa Pracuj has also organized Virtual Job Fair and Virtual Education Fair it is a founding member of The Network, the largest alliance of Standard, part of IDG Poland S.A is also a popular conference organizer. Business conferences attract hundreds of businessmen in the country. IDG Poland S.A. also publishes B2B IT magazines (CMO, CXO, CIO, NetWorld, Computerworld) and B2C magazines (PC World Komputer, Computerworld, Kino Domowe Magazyn DVD). independent recruitment sites with websites from 60 different countries. Grupa Pracuj employs 190 people working in the central office in Warsaw and in regional offices located in Bydgoszcz, Gliwice, Krakow, Lodz, Poznan, Sopot and Wroclaw. In 2007 Grupa Pracuj was recognized as the twelfth fastest growing IT company in Central and Eastern Europe, and one of the 500 fastest growing IT companies in Europe. Money.pl Money.pl, established in 1997, is one of the most popular Polish financial web portals with nearly 2 million users every month. It provides news and commentary on finance, law, labour market, real estate, business and politics. In 2006 Money.pl generated a net profit of nearly 1.3 million PLN (360 thousand EUR); with revenue of 11 million PLN (3 million EUR), which means that during five years (2001-2005) portal’s revenue increased by 1428%. Money.pl was on the 7th position in the ranking of the most dynamically developing companies in the Central Europe (“Technology Fast 50” by Deloitte). In 2006, a German publishing house Handelsblatt (Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt), member of Georg von Holtzbrinck media group became Money.pl’s strategic investor. Currently, the company employs over 60 people. It’s based in Wroclaw, but part of the team works in Warsaw as well. DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Bankier.pl S.A. Bankier.pl S.A. is one of the leading media companies focused on finanse sector. It runs Bankier.pl, a web portal providing financial informa- tion on personal funds, investing, capital markets and financial products. Bankier.pl gives its users an access to a current stock exchange quotes, experts analysis, Top Polish Interactive Agencies Name Web address 180 Heartbeats http://www.180heartbeats.pl/ Adv.pl http://www.adv.pl/ Ars Thanea http://www.arsthanea.com/ Artegence http://www.artegence.com BeeStudio http://www.beestudio.pl/ Byss http://www.byss.pl Click5 http://www.click5.pl Conecto http://www.conecto.pl/ Cookie http://www.cookie.pl/ Digital One http://www.digitalone.pl/ Emarketing Experts http://www.emarketingexperts.pl/ Engine http://www.engine.pl/ FFCreation http://www.ffcreation.com/ Genero http://www.genero.pl/ Hint Intermedia http://www.hintintermedia.com/ Honki http://www.honki.pl/ HYPERmedia http://www.hypermedia.pl/ Insignia http://www.insignia.pl/ Internet Designers http://www.id.pl/ Isens http://www.isens.pl/ Janmedia http://www.janmedia.pl/ K2 Internet http://www.k2.pl/ Madonet http://www.netizens.pl/ Max Weber http://www.maxweber.com/ Media Ambassador http://www.mediaambassador.pl/ MindChili http://www.mindchili.pl/ MRM Worldwide http://www.mrm.pl/ Netarena http://www.netarena.pl/ Opcom http://www.opcom.pl/ OS3 Multimedia http://www.os3.pl/ Pro-Creation http://www.pro-creation.pl/ Zjednoczenie.com http://www.zjednoczenie.com.pl/ Source: Interaktywnie.com, own 10 calculators and comparisons of financial products offered by nearly 50 financial companies. The Bankier.pl Group owns six web portals: Bankier.pl, Twoja-Firma.pl, PIT.pl, VAT.pl, PRNews.pl and Mojeauto.pl (with1.73 million unique users). Since June 2006 Bankier.pl S.A. has been listed on the Warsaw Stock . Exchange. Grono.net Grono.net is an invitation-only community service which gathers groups of friends and families (over 1.3 million registered users). Users can load pictures or video onto their profiles and the website has currently over 15 million pictures. Grono.net is available in Polish, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian language versions. In September 2007, Intel Capital announced its plans to invest in . Grono.net. The firm employs over . 60 people. MCI Management MCI Management is an investment group managing venture capital and private equity funds, including: TechVentures’99, TechVentures’03, MCI.BioVentures, MCI.EuroVentures and MCI.SuperVentures. It has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (with present market cap around 1 billion PLN) since February 2001. MCI Management SA specializes in investments within the region of Central and Eastern Europe. It mainly invests in innovative companies operating in the area of internet, mobile telephony, e-commerce, wireless technologies, software, IT, biotechnology/life science and media. Merlin.pl S.A.. Merlin.pl is one of the oldest and biggest online shops in Poland DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND (operating since April 1999). It mainly sells books, films, music, games, computer programs and toys. It is visited by round 100,000 users every day. In 2004 Merlin.pl was acclaimed the fastest growing company in Central Europe by Deloitte & Touche. In 2005 Merlin.pl launched its first offline shop. NetSprint.pl Sp. z o. o. NetSprint.pl runs a search engine. The company was established in 2000 and was the first firm which introduced the top-notch search engine technology to Polish market. NetSprints’s key customers and partners include both Poland’s major horizontal portals as well as international corporations. In 2004 the company was ranked seventh in Deloitte’s Fast 50 ranking of the fastest-growing high-tech companies in Central Europe. In 2006 Orkla Media, a Norwegian media group acquired the majority of NetSprint’s shares. capital firm invested a few million PLN in Nasza-klasa. SARE SARE specializes in offering e-mail marketing services (e-mail campaigns, newsletters, bulletins). It works with over 200 clients (e.g. Media Markt, Siemens, Kofola Holding, Danone, Lexus, G+J, Bauer). It claims to be the largest email marketing company in the country. This list of the companies mentioned above certainly does not exhaust the database of important internet firms in Poland. There are key enterprises in the region like Panorama Firm - the biggest yellow pages website in the country, epuls – one of the most popular social networking websites, Empik. com – online shop or NetPress Digital electronic publications distributor. Future editions of this report will include more top business initiatives in the country. Nasza-Klasa Sp. z o. o. Nasza-Klasa.pl is a social networking website (Polish equivalent of Classmates). It was launched in November 2006 and within a few months gained an enormous popularity. At the end of 2007 it had more than 6 million registered users, and became one of the biggest social networking websites in the country. In September 2007 European Founders, a venture Interactive advertising agencies There are more than 1000 interactive agencies in Poland. We present just a few top ones, according to Interaktywnie.com ranking (pleace see the table ”Top Polish Interactive Agencies”). 11 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 3. E-commerce According to the estimates released by Interactive Advertising Bureau Polska, from 2001 to 2006 Polish ecommerce market grew by over 4500%. The highest growth rate was seen in 2000-2004 when Polish online retail trade sales increased by 200% per year. The value of the market in 2006 was estimated to be 5 billion PLN (1.39 billion EUR). Online auction platforms generated 3 billion PLN, online shops had a turnover of 2 billion PLN (500 million EUR). According to the latest estimations published by Rzeczpospolita, Polish online shops and auction platforms generated 8 billion PLN (2.22 billion EUR) in 2007. Polish market is significantly bigger than Irish, Portuguese or Greek. In 2006 internet sales in Austria and Denmark were comparable to Poland’s. Swiss results were a bit lower than Polish revenues. eMarketer expects that over the next five years European ecommerce market will grow at an annual growth rate of 25%. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, Czech Republic and Russia are expected to be a driving force of that growth at the beginning of the next decade. In 2006 Polish online sales for the first time exceeded 1% of total domestic retail trade value. According to the Polish Market Review (PMR) forecast, in 2009 this proportion may go up by over 2%. Online auction platforms Since 2005 about 60% of Polish ecommerce sales have been made by transactions performed on auction platforms . The indisputable online auction leader in Poland is Allegro.pl. In 2006 the total value of completed auctions reached 2.5 billions PLN and 12 for three quarters of 2007 Allegro’s total transaction value was already 10% higher than total results for 2006. Although Allegro.pl is still perceived as an auction platform, almost 80% of all transactions are made without bidding; the reason being that a number of small shops (traditional and online ones) treat Allegro.pl as one of their selling channels. This trend will be even more prominent in the future. The second popular auction platform is eBay, which appeared on the Polish market in 2005. In 2006 sales reached 100 million USD, but in comparison with Allegro.pl it is a rather poor result. Polish eBay managed to find its own niche – thanks to the integration with foreign platforms, and users can buy and sell goods not only in Poland but also in 28 other countries. Online shops The catalogue run by Sklepy24.pl currently contains information about 3,300 Polish online stores divided into 12 groups. Home & Garden makes the largest category; there are another four significantly big groups: Health & Beauty, Gifts & Flowers, Electronics & Photo and Computers. There are not many Polish shops selling food, only a few from 77 listed in the catalogue DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND The value of the Polish e-commerce market in 2006 was estimated to be 8 billion PLN (2.22 billion EUR). 13 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND offer fresh food (e.g. Frisco.pl). Apart from e-shops, there are over ten online travel agencies (e.g. Travelplanet.pl) and financial product brokers (e.g. Bankier.pl) on the market. Not many Polish online stores reveal their financial results, but it is very likely that those who decide to do are the leaders. In 2006 Merlin.pl generated the biggest revenues in Polish B2C e-commerce. Merlin.pl is one of the oldest online shops, which sells mainly books, music, toys and electronics. Agito.pl and Hoopla.pl offer electronics and home appliances, Komputronik.pl distributes computers and computer parts whereas Oponeo. pl is the largest Polish online store with tyres and car accessories. Few years ago virtual shopping arcades in popular web portals played an important role in Polish e-commerce. Now, it is comparision sites that have become the sources of information about stores offers and prices for the growing number of Polish internet users. The most popular Polish site of that type is Ceneo.pl, which had almost 1.7 million unique users in August 2007 (according to Megapanel PBI/Gemius). Ceneo.pl currently allows to compare about 1.7 million offers from 700 shops. The second place belongs to Nokaut.pl, which in spite of significantly bigger catalogue (4 million offers from 788 shops) is a bit less popular. Polish online shopper According to data published by Eurostat, in 2006 one in eight Poles and one in four Polish internet users did their online shopping at least once. This proportion places Poland on 17th position in the European ranking, next to Slovenia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. A slightly higher proportion of men then women do shopping online. The highest discrepancy occurs in the age group of 25-34 and in the income groups declaring monthly net income 14 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 15 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND In 2006 one in eight Poles and one in four Polish internet users did their online shopping at least once. 16 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 17 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND higher than 2 000 PLN (550 EUR). SMG/KRC report shows that in 2006 Polish online shoppers bought mainly books and clothes, then mobile phones, computers and electronics. Compared to 2005, in 2006 significantly more shoppers were interested in car accessories, toys and children’s accessories as well as airline, train and bus tickets. Last year statistical Pole spent 47 dollars on online shopping, more than the Greeks or the Portuguese but still considerably less than average citizens in Western Europe. Statistical resident of Denmark (where in 2006 e-commerce sales was comparable with Polish ecommerce revenues) spent seven times more in online stores than a Pole. Polish internet users pay for ordered products mainly in cash on delivery. Last year 23% of orders were paid by cards and 7% - by other forms of payment (e.g. bank transfers). Poles rarely use cards because they are concerned about security or do not have a card allowing them to pay over the internet. In 2006 only 5.6 million from 24 million existing cards could be used for online transactions. Threats and concerns. At the beginning of 2007, one third of respondents (According to Gemius Survey) claimed that the biggest problem with online shopping was long delivery time. One sixth had troubles with finding products and one eighth complained about poor customer service. What is important, it that nearly a half of respondents experienced no problems while shopping online. Polish e-commerce in brief From 2001 till 2006 Polish e-commerce market grew by over 4500% The value of the market is estimated to be 8 billion PLN in 2006 (2.22 billion EUR) Online auction platforms generated 3 billion PLN in 2006 (830 million EUR) DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 4. Market trends in brief Polish internet market can be consi-. dered a mature one with local companies having very strong market positions. Although foreign big players start their operations in Poland it has proved difficult for them to outplace local firms in a short period of time. A good example is eBay, which entered Polish market in 2005 and is still behind local auction platform - Allegro.pl. Allegro is the 4th most popular destination in Poland whereas eBay.pl remains below Top 20. There is a similar situation with instant messengers: local Gadu Gadu leads the way attracting more than 5 million users per month whereas Skype still remains second best with 3 million users. The only example of sudden and undisputable victory is Google which became the most popular website in Poland. What is interesting is to observe how quickly YouTube.com is climbing up through the popularity rankings (in August 2007 it was the 10th most popular online destination in the country). It is worth mentioning that Polish language version of YouTube was one of the first European editions. Google provides most of its services in Poland, including Google Docs and GMail. One of the few exceptions is Google News, still not available in local language version. Global gigiant has even decided to open a Research & Development Centre which is based in Krakow as well as client service branch in Wroclaw. New surge of foreign investments What created a lot of stir on Polish market recently were two announcements: both MySpace and AOL decided to open their offices in Poland. At the moment MySpace is in the process of hiring staff for marketing and content management departments. Interestingly, MySpace is perceived as one of a few international companies which stands real chances of conquering Polish market. Other international social networking players (Hi5 and Bebo) are trying to enter Polish market, but they will have to face very strong competition. There are already local firms: Fotka.pl (with more than 3 million users a month), Moja 19 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Polish internet market accelerates Major changes in 2007 January • Gazeta.pl (Agora S.A.) acquires Wrocek.pl - a social networking site about Wroclaw city. February • Bankier.pl S.A., owner of the financial web portal, acquires MojeAuto.pl, car classifieds website. • Grupa Onet.pl S.A. acquires blogging site Blog.pl. March • Onet.pl starts to sell advertisements on its portal on time basis, like in TV. • Gadu-Gadu S.A., owner of Polish most popular instant messanger goes public . (IPO at Polish Stock Exchange - Gielda Papierow Wartosciowych). • Gemius S.A., online reasearch firm starts its operations in Romania and Bulgaria. • Gadu-Gadu S.A., starts operating in Ukraine. • German Holtzbrinck ventures investment fund invests in Pixelate Ventures, owner of ePuls.pl social networking site. April • Onet.pl launches Zumi.pl - mapping and yellow pages site. • MCI venture capital investment fund invests 1.5 mln PLN in Netpress Digital, e-press distributor. • TVN Group (one of the biggest private TV stations in Poland) launches TVN24.pl, news site run by more . than 40 editors. • Pino.pl (social networking portal) acquires Blogi.pl (blogging website). • Launch of Business Angels Seedfund. It announces to spend 15-30 million PLN (4-8 million EUR) . for investing in start-ups. May • Gadu-Gadu S.A. acquires Nauka.pl, education website. • Merlin.pl, one of the biggest internet shops, acquires Presco Media owner of e-cyfrowe.pl, online shop with digital cameras. • Agora announces that it will open a new multimedia newsroom which will combine exisiting radio . and internet newsrooms. June • Hoopla.pl announces that it will debut on stock exchange (IPO). • Onet.pl launches Onet.TV, video website. • Google launches Polish version of YouTube. • Gadu-Gadu S.A. acquires Blip.pl, micro-blogging website. • Onet.pl S.A. announces its partnership with Opera Software. July • Research: 66% of Polish internet users have tried shopping online, it’s the biggest percentage in Eastern Europe. • Wykop.pl, Polish start-up based on DIGG.com idea, receives 600,000 PLN fund (around 165,000 EUR). • Launch of Polish language version of Bebo.com. • Pracuj.pl, biggest recruitment website in Poland, launches Profeo.pl, social networking site for employees, . a competitor to Goldenline.pl. • Gadu-Gadu S.A. acquires Fora.pl, a discussion website. August • AOL announces that it will open Polish version of its portal at the end of 2007. • Wirtualna Polska, second biggest internet portal becomes a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). • Gadu-Gadu celebrates its 7th birthday. • Agito.pl, an e-shop, announces its plans of initial stock offering (IPO). September • Tomasz Lis, one of the most influential Polish TV journalists, quits his job at TV station and starts his TV-show online. • Nasza-Klasa.pl - a small social networking service with a very dynamic growth rate, receives a funding . of a few million PLN. • Agora (owner of Gazeta.pl) acquiers BlogFrog.pl - a blogs search engine. • Oponeo.pl S.A., online shop with tyres, announces that it will debut on stock exchange. • o2.pl Sp. z o.o., one of Polish main web portals announces that it will launch 8 new sites by the end of 2007. October • MySpace Poland announces that it will start operations in next few months. It starts recruiting for Polish offices. • G+J company, publisher of Polish edition of „National Geographic” and lifestyle magazines buys Odyssei.pl,. travel website. • Wirtualna Polska introduces behavioral targeting advertising. • o2.pl Sp. z o o. launches Pinger.pl, micro-blogging service, which is a direct competitor to Blip.pl, owned by . Gadu-Gadu S.A. • First edition of Polish MIXX Awards takes place (best interactive campaigns are awarded). December • Bauer Media acquires Interia.pl, a web portal. Cost of acquistion is over 200 million PLN (55 million EUR) • Agora becomes an exclusive partner of Bebo’s social networking website in Poland. • AOL starts Polish version of its web portal - AOL.pl • Naspers, South African media company acquires Tradus PLC, owner of Allegro.pl for 1.9 billion USD . (about 1.3 billion EUR). • Naspers buys 66.7% shares of Gadu Gadu, Polish most popular instant messenger. DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Generacja (with more than 2 million users a month), Nasza-Klasa.pl (with more than 6 million registered users), Grono.net (with more than 1 million users a month), ePuls.pl (with round 600 thousand users a month), which are doing very well and which may prove very difficult to compete with. Going public Many Polish firms made public offerings in 2007. There are already a few companies which have been listed on the stock exchange in Warsaw for many years (Interia, Agora). Last couple of years has shown that more and more firms find stock exchange a very tempting way for finding new resources for business development. Hence, Bankier.pl S.A., Gadu-Gadu S.A., Travelplanet S.A. and many more firms went public. Investment frenzy It goes without saying that year 2007 should be called ”a year of investments”. The amount of venture-capital investments and acquisitions has not been seen in Polish market before. There are many traditional firms buying small and medium size internet companies to gain market advantage or online entrepreneurs widening their portfolios and increasing revenues from the internet. There is also more seed fund initiatives which are looking for promising new starters (see more in a table listing major events in Poland in 2007). Interesting facts: • Main web portals have launched special versions of their websites to cater for Polish immigrants who are living in the UK and in Ireland • Polish branch of MSN has only one employee • Most of main Polish web portals launched their own society gossip websites (eg o2.pl started Pudelek.pl, Gazeta.pl runs Plotek.pl , Interia.pl owns Pomponik.pl) Year 2007 should be called ”the year of investments”. That amount of venture-capital investments and acquisitions has not been seen on Polish market before. • Fotka.pl, a local social networking website, has more than 2 billion page views • eBay Poland tried two times to outpace local competitor - Allegro.pl, but with no success so far • All of the main web portals have TV/ video sites. 21 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 5. Getting started: setting up a company in Poland It will be an exaggaration to say that Poland has become a titbit for investors from all industry sectors but when it comes to the internet it goes without saying that the online market attracts more and more foreign capital. ”The perception of Poland in the Western world has changed,” Chris Modzelewski, CEO at Emerging Analysis Corporation said. Modzelewski is an owner of Eastern Europe’s largest online media research agency - Gemius - and was one of the early investors in Polish online market. „Poland is no longer viewed as the ‘wild post-communist east’ where only big risk-takers go. Today, Poland is an extremely attractive location for investment with the largest domestic market in the CEE region (excluding Russia), tamed inflation, a highly educated workforce and an economy growing at 6.5% annually,” he added. There are quite a few foreign companies operating in Poland already. In 1999 British online consumer trading platform Tradus (former QXL ricardo plc) opened a Polish branch - QXL Poland - which runs the leading online auction platfom Allegro.pl. In the last quarter of 2006 all the Tradus investments in CEE brought 9 million GBP revenues (the vast majority of them came from Poland). Tradus employs around 350 people in Poland whereas there are only 10 members of staff in the UK and they are mainly focused on controling and consolidating financial data, PR and fullfilling stock listing obligations. At the end of the 90s. various entrepreneurs (mainly local companies) invested in internet firms because of a tempting perspective of lucrative profits during the dot com boom. Another big surge of investments in Poland appeared in 2005 when global firms started opening their branches in CEE. Google and eBay were one of the major firms which settled in 22 Poland then. ”Many Polish users who had already used American or German online auction websites sent inquiries to eBay head quarters asking when Polish platform was due to be open,” Alina Prawdzik, country manger at eBay Poland recalled. Poland is the only country in Central and Eastern Europe that eBay is present in but conquering this market proved to be a hard nut to crack. Although eBay claims to have done a thorough market research before launching a Polish platform, it is clear that initially they underestimated the sophistication and competetiveness of the local environment. 2008 is going to bring more interesting moves on the Polish market. Internet gigants like Myspace and AOL are opening their offices in the country as well as smaller SEM and advertising agencies from the CEE region. What drives big and small businesses there is the market potential and a relatively quick return of investment. Investing in Poland has become much easier and much frequent recently. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) estimates that all foreign direct investment in the country in 2006 was at an all time high of 14.7 billion USD (this amount covers all industry sectors). A few important factors attract foreign DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 23 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND capital to Poland: market size, relatively low employment costs, economic growth and the availability of human resources. Types of business activity The process of opening a branch in Poland has been modernised since Poland entered the EU. In August 2004 The Economic Freedom Act was introduced which made the process of setting up a business easier (thanks to cutting down the number of documents required). However, it is still far from ideal. Nigel Adams, managing director at Nigel Adams & Company Ltd who has been working with Poland since 1972 as a governmental advisor knows perfectly well that starting a business in Poland means going through a lot of paperwork. What one has to be prepared for is a large number of documents required which need to be signed and stamped. ”Most British directors and managers feel that the amount of red tape in Poland hampers their companies’ efficiency and leads to extra costs,” Nigel Adams said. Arjan Bakker, a Dutch businessman who runs Polish offices of Allegro shares this view. In his opinion, the procedures should be shorter, easier and friendlier like in many other EU countries. ”Registering a joint-stock company (‘spolka akcyjna’) in Poland was not a problem per se. However, it is important to remember that the process is much more difficult than in the United States. In America I can register a company in less than 24 hours over the internet. In Poland, the process takes at least one month. But if one is understanding of this fact, and has a good attorney to handle the formalities, it is no more or less difficult than registering a company in any other country”, Chris Modzelewski explained. There are initiatives to shorten the process of registering a firm in the country. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency reveals that a system which will handle submitting online applications should be available by the end of 2008. It should definitely speed up the registration process. Investors who plan to start a business in Poland are provided with a wide choice of forms of business activity: civil partnership (spółka cywilna), registered partnership (spółka jawna), limited partnership (spółka komandytowa), limited joint-stock partnership (spółka komandytowo-akcyjna), professional partnership (spółka partnerska), limited liability company (spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością), joint-stock company (spółka akcyjna), branch office (oddział), representative office (przedstawicielstwo) or just simply an entry in the business activity register (wpis do ewidencji działalności gospodarczej). Jarosław Chałas, managing partner at Chałas and Wspólnicy chambers prepared a useful investor’s guide for The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (the document which gives a clear overview of the legal procedures and provides some recommendations is available here: http://www.paiz.gov.pl/index/ ?id=4f8bc5ac1dc2b49434efe9e72f183 de8). According to Chałas and Wspólnicy, the best choice for large firms which plan to operate in Poland is to set up a limited liability company or joint-stock company (there is an entry fee of 1000 PLN (277 EUR) and a requirement of 50,000 PLN (13850 EUR) initial capital contribution if one is interested in opening a limited liability company or a 500,000 PLN (138500 EUR) contribution for a joint-stock company). Those who would prefer to limit operation costs should definitely consider starting a branch or a representative office. Tax rates and inspections All entrepreneurs need to apply for their NIP (taxpayer identification number) and REGON (statistical number). Another important step is to register with the Social Insurance Office (ZUS). Each firm is obliged to pay value added tax (VAT) as well as corporate income tax (CIT). CIT has gone through a lot of changes throughout the years, dropping its value from 27% to19%. All taxpayers have to submit a monthly tax return form to the tax office. Apart from the monthly reports each firm has to send a final tax settlement by the end of March each year. 24 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Smaller entrepreneurs can take adventage of „tax credit” which means that they are entitled to income tax deferral during their first tax year. What is also tempting is a relief from submitting tax returns during the same period of time. From time to time entrepreneurs may expect inspectors to come to their firms. By law authortities cannot carry out more than one inspection at the same time in the same business. Such visits are limited – inspectors cannot stay longer than four weeks if they examine smaller or medium size firms; inspections in larger companies are limited to eight weeks. Competitive landscape Polish online market has developed organically without the presence of Yahoo!, AOL or MSN in its early years. Although global online gigants like Google or eBay have started operating in the country not long time ago it was not as easy for them as one may think to gain high market positions. „The most dangerous misstep that investors may take is underestimating Polish local competitors, or (even more dangerously) underestimating the sophistication of the Polish consumer,” Chris Modzelewski warned. Many western firms forget that Polish users have access to the same products or services as westerners. Many investors confirm that competitive landscape makes entering Poland just as difficult as entering any other foreign market in Western Europe. „Like any country in Western Europe or Asia, entering Poland demands creative strategies to realize the country’s potential,” Modzelewski added. Alina Prawdzik who runs Polish offices of eBay knows from experience that users expect even more from foreign firms than from local ones. „Satisfying Polish consumers is possible, but it’s not an easy task,” Prawdzik stressed. That is why it’s best to dig as much information as possible about local competitors before facing them directly. Investment projects in Central & Eastern Europe were particularly labour intensive. While Central and Eastern Europe attracted only 26% of investment projects, they benefited from 51% of the new jobs created by foreign investors. This represented an average of 217 jobs per project, compared with 64 jobs per project in Western Europe. Poland was the largest creator of FDI jobs, with almost 15% of the total. EUROPEAN ATTRACTIVENESS SURVEY, 2007 BY ERNST & YOUNG 25 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 6. Views on Poland Nigel Adams Managing Director at Nigel Adams & Company Ltd, Visiting Lecturer at University of Buckingham, Great Britan I have been working with Poland since 1972 and lived in the country from 1993 until 2002 as a British Government “Know How Fund” Management Adviser, so I have seen many, many changes. I find the country fascinating to work in and despite many years of experience, I always tell my clients that they should “Expect the unexpected!” I also warn my client companies to expect more bureaucracy and more regulations than in a British company. However, I also tell them that, on the whole, in Poland they will find very hospitable people who are great to work with. Most British directors and managers feel that the amount of “red tape” in Poland hampers their companies’ efficiency and leads to extra costs. In addition, the need to report and pay corporate taxes, and VAT monthly is an extra cost they think should be removed. The high social security costs and the very strong employment regulations were accepted when Polish labour rates were very low, but I think that as Polish wages are increasing significantly, these costs and regulations will not encourage future investment in Poland by British companies. On final point, the British will never get used to the need for all documents to be signed and “stamped”. This is just not necessary in Britain, for example in Britain a company will accept a commercial order over the phone from a regular customer, by accepting an “Order number”. No contracts, signatures or stamps are needed! . Massimo Burgio Co-chairman of the Global Committee at SEMPO, Founding Member of Sempo Europe, Sempo Latino and a frequent speaker at SES, Italy/USA Poland has a very vibrant, passionate and professional community of online marketers. I have always observed Polish market, especially search engine marketing sector with curiosity. The early presence of local search engines used by millions of users, as well as local web 26 portals, current, well developed e-commerce and social media environment are all signs of a healthy online market. There are a lot of advantages for investors in the CEE region and I cannot see any major constraints of its development. The language fragmentation of the CEE countries can be an issue and can make it difficult . to decide to target the region at large with local approach. . . Alain Heureux, President of IAB Europe and IAB Belgium I think that Polish Interactive Advertising Bureau will be playing a role of a “bridge” between Eastern and Western Europe. Broadband and technologies are not always there yet in Poland but the creativity certainly is. The European IAB Network is gaining more value thanks to Poland. . Jan Jilek CSO at Xclaim.hr, Vice President at Interactive Marketing Association, Croatia In my opinion Poland has the biggest potential in CEE. . I believe that in 3 years’ time Poland will jump from the regional avarage to the first place in terms of the online market growth. The only thing which may affect its development is a slowing growth rate of an internet penetration. I think that it may be necessary now to introduce internet to the rural parts of the country to maintain current pace of growth. . Martin Kovac Country Manger at ETARGET a.s., Slovakia With the population of almost 40 million people Poland is the strongest and the most attractive market in CEE. It will remain the biggest player in the region having overseas money shaping its development.. DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Chris Modzelewski CEO at Emerging Analysis Corporation, owner of Eastern Europe’s largest online media research agency Gemius, one of the earily investors in Polish online market, USA My first investments in Poland were in 1999 when I established Gemius (Central & Eastern Europe’s leading internet research agency). In 1999 Poland was a much stabler location for investment than in 1991 (when I first visited the country), but I still saw it as far riskier than other countries I could invest in. Today, just a short 8 years later, Poland is an entirely different country. The rule of law is stronger and corruption is less endemic. The Polish internet market has a tremendous potential. With close to 40 million people, dropping internet access prices, rapidly growing penetration and advertising budgets shifting online, Poland is one of the most attractive internet markets in Europe today. Its „potential” - which from a western perspective can be seen as the ability to generate both domestic profits and provide lower costs - is attractive to investors, but they should enter the market with open eyes and be very sensitive to the local reality. Right now the main market constraint to consider is the competition in the labour sector. Poland’s educated workforce and especially its excellent software developers are highly prized by high-technology companies from around the world. This combined with strong domestic macroeconomic growth is driving up wages and competition for the most talented workers. While this benefits Poland, it is a factor that investors looking at Poland have to consider carefully. Why should someone build a development center in Poland if they’ll have to recruit staff (or open another center) in Ukraine to find talented employees? The other constraint to consider when investing in Poland is the competitive landscape. A sophisticated market that evolved organically without significant infusions of western capital, strategy or brands has a very different competitive landscape than some westerners might expect. This is not so much as a „constraint” as it is a warning to investors: if you’re going to invest in Poland, do your homework first. . . . Eric Urdahl, Head of International Business, AD Europe, Germany From the perspective of western internet players, Poland is different. Poland’s internet industry evolved (at least in its early years) in its own local reality. This shaped the competitive landscape very differently than what many western players would expect based on experiences in the United States or Western Europe. Western investors considering how to tap into Poland’s internet potential should bear this fact firmly in mind and approach the market respectful of Poland’s successes in the past 10 years. Polish online market is the most important one in CEE in terms of pan-European online campaigns for our international network AD Europe. We have been experiencing the strongest growth rates since 2005. Interest in Poland has grown since the country entered the EU. Poland has good penetration rates and broadband coverage. This fuels its online advertising market and also attracts more European advertisers. 27 DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND 7. About Internet Standard About the authors: Michał Grzechowiak Michał started working at IDG Poland in 2007. Previously, as a journalist of „Magazyn Internet”, a Polish magazine for internet users, he used to cover many aspects of the web. In Internet Standard he focuses on writing case studies on Polish online firms to ”E-biznes od kuchni” (”E-business uncovered”) section as well as providing business news. Apart from working for IDG Poland, Michał studies economics at University of Warsaw.. . E-mail: Michal_Grzechowiak@idg.com.pl Anna Meller Anna joined IDG Poland team in 2000. At the beginning of her career she worked for PC World Komputer, covering stories on artificial intelligence, new online trends and future of the web. Later (after the dot com bubble burst) she moved to Internet Standard, where she focused on the business aspects of the internet. She helped to revive the online business community gathered round the title. Anna is responsible for writing reports and news. She is also involved in organizing Internet Standard businesss conferences. Anna studied Polish and English literature and linguistics at Gdansk University in Poland. She likes jazz music, hiking and reading books. . . Email: Anna_Meller@idg.com.pl Piotr Zalewski Piotr has been working as an online editor at IDG Poland since March 2006. He mainly covers new trends and business aspects of the internet. Piotr is responsible for editorial content of Internet Standard. He writes news and articles, and also helps with organizing conferences. He is in charge of the development of the new design of magazine’s website. Piotr studied social psychology. He is interested in new technologies, media and skiing.. . Email: Piotr_Zalewski@idg.com.pl 28 Production team: COVER. Grażyna Stefek. . Design. Anna Karabon DTP. Beata Miętus CHARTS. Adam Sienkiel DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND Advertising Anna Stando. Email: Anna_Stando@idg.com.pl. Tel. +48 22 321 78 00 Internet Standard conferences Agnieszka Świtkowska. Email: Agnieszka_Switkowska@idg.com.pl Internet Standard InternetStandard.pl is a leading Polish online magazine published by International Data Group Poland S.A. . It is visited by more than 200,000 users monthly (real users, Megapanel Gemius/PBI), among them there are top internet industry leaders, managers, directors, advanced web users. Internet Standard is focused on business and social aspects of the internet. Online magazine runs its Online Expert Forum and business conferences, which are very popular in the country. International Data Group International Data Group (IDG) is the world’s leading technology media, events, and research company. IDG’s online network includes more than 450 web sites spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment, and video games worldwide. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers in 85 countries including CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, Internet Standard and PC World. IDG’s leadgeneration service, IDG Connect, matches technology companies with an audience of engaged, high-quality IT professionals, influencers, and decision makers. Each month, over 80 million unique visitors visit the more than 450 websites of IDG’s online network. To ensure that IDG online audiences have access to rapidly updated information, IDG’s online network is supported by more than 2,000 journalists and the only 24-hour global technology news organization, the IDG News Service, which reports the latest technology news from its bureaus around the world. IDG has built the broadest network of technology content online and reaches more technology buyers than any other media company. IDG produces more than 750 globally branded conferences and events in 55 countries. Industry leading international events include Macworld Conference & Expo and LinuxWorld Conference & Expo. IDG’s LinuxWorld events are now found in nearly 20 countries on five continents. Leading conferences include CIO 100, DEMO and IDC Directions. IDG produces 19 conferences and events in China alone, and was first to offer expos in emerging markets throughout Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. 29 www.internetstandard.pl Conferences DIGITAL LANDSCAPE: POLAND INTERNET STANDARD There is one standard – Internet Standard In 2007 Internet Standard organized a few strategic, business-to-business conferences which were met with great acclaim from internet and related industries. • must attend internet industry annual event • latest online research and business analysis • new market trends • online adspend • new investments, mergers and acquisitions, stock exchange listings CLIENTS 2.0 FMCG • best online marketing practice • new trends: Web 2.0, social networking, behavioural targeting • best FMCG case studies • internet in media mix • online ad spend • advertising strategy • best case studies • new developments in e-commerce market • consumer behaviour • business models for e-commerce • customer acquisition and retention • online payment systems ConferenCe SChedule for 2008 • future media • Clients 2.0 • searCh engine marketing standard 2008 • adstandard 2008 • internet 2k8 30 • e-CommerCestandard 2008 V best internet industry conferences in the country V exclusive analysis V leading keynote speakers V brilliant networking opportunity If you would like to get involved in Internet Standard Conferences project or simply find out more about the coming events please contact Agnieszka_Switkowska@idg.com.pl, www.internetstandard.pl