Now in its second year, the Net Index series has recently been launched in Southeast Asia.  The study is based on an in-depth, large-scale cross-media habits study of online users that goes beyond Internet media habits. The study is conducted  in Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia.

Partnering TNS (Kantar Media), Nielsen and Synovate, Net Index 2010 sets Internet media currency for the coming year. The research offered strategic insights for industry decision makers and tapped into the massive Internet opportunities available in the country of study and throughout Southeast Asia.

Top line trends from the country studies were presented at the recent ad:Tech Media and Advertising industry conference held in Singapore on 3 June, where Yahoo! Southeast Asia hosted the launch of the Yahoo! Regional Net Index insights.

Highlights from the research were presented to gathered media, industry advertising executives, marketers and media planners from around the region.

Some key findings:

• Indonesia, the largest and fastest growing online market in Southeast Asia, has recorded a jump from 22% (2009) to 48% (2010)
• Internet cafés in Indonesia are gradually losing ground to Mobile as dominant Internet access point. A decline of 19% has been recorded in Internet access through cafes; 83% in 2009 to 64% in 2010
• In Vietnam, mobile Internet access is picking up fast, nearly doubling year-to-year, from 10% (2008) to 19% (2009). Popular activities are searching for information and listening to music
• User generated content and community building is driving this trend in some markets like Vietnam, where it occupies the largest share (47%) among social media activities.
• Search, in the Philippines has grown significantly from 58% to 76% to become the dominant online activity, surpassing email and instant messaging
• Social media in the Philippines is primarily used to stay in touch with friends and family (66%), send emails (64%) and for online chats (63%)
• Spread of digital media is changing the way Malaysians are consuming information, particularly news. Key news sources are; online newspapers (53%), Internet portals (47%) and local news sites (46%)
• In Malaysia, online music and video has attracted significant interest with 51% uploading/downloading music files online and 54 % watching video clips online. Over a third of users also play games online – dominated by younger males.

To capture the fast moving changes in mobile use in Indonesia, a Mobile Index study was also conducted.  The Mobile Index provided  a broader study on internet trends in Indonesia which indicated the explosive growth of mobile internet in Indonesia primarily driven by cheap and unlimited data plans with bundled offerings, improved mobile user interfaces, and industry wide marketing, mobile internet penetration has expanded by 26% points from 22% (2009) to 48% (2010).

Key findings of Mobile Index 2010 Indonesia include:

• More than half of mobile internet users belonging to SES A (social economic status-A) or in the age group of 15-24 years use mobile internet everyday
• Mobile Internet usage is predominantly from a mobile phone with advanced features rather than a smartphone as only 11% own a smartphone
• 41% of people surveyed have looked up content or searched for information in the past month; out of those who searched for content, News (54%) and Facts / Trivia (47%) were the most common searches
• Social networking is the key activity with 89% of mobile internet users accessing it in the past one month; 47% access social networking sites at least once a day

Together, the five comprehensive Net Index research studies, sponsored by Yahoo!  have provided the Southeast Asian media, advertising and marketing industries with essentials tools to value the power of the Internet in Southeast Asia.

Stay tuned for more insights and studies that we’ll be releasing in upcoming months!

Ken Mandel
Regional VP Advertising Marketplace, Yahoo! Asia Pacific