Recognised as a reliable central body that conducts Internet and website research, Truehit.net collects statistics of Internet-related activities, and has unveiled its 2005 research. The research was conducted by collecting statistics from owners of 8,742 websites throughout last year.

It showed that there were a total of 13.21 billion page views, an increase of 85.61 per cent from the previous year. There were 36.19 million page views per day. Internet and entertainment websites are the most popular, having 24.55 per cent and 20.68 per cent hit rates, while government websites have only 1.64 per cent hit rates.

Meanwhile, Google.com is the most popular search engine with 97.03 per cent, Yahoo.com 1.46 per cent, MSN.com 0.87 per cent, and Sansarn.com 0.05 per cent.

The four most popular search terms  are “games” 18.67 per cent, “fortune” 9.5 per cent, “music” 7.95 per cent, and “secret shots” 5.38 per cent.

Sanook remained the most popular site with 4.21 million page-views.

Piya Tanthawichian, director of research at Government Information Technology Services, said the research is intended to offer a guideline for government policy to develop Internet use in Thailand.

He said that most Internet users go online for entertainment, rather than for education or business.

This can help Internet policymakers to consider appropriate measures to encourage the use of the Internet with maximum benefits.

asina@nationgroup.com

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation