MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
January 31 – February 7, 2008 Edition

Nielsen Report Shows

Book Buying Tops All

Internet Transactions

LONDON/1/28/08–A new poll by Nielsen Online shows that more books are sold on the Internet than any other product, and sales are increasing, the BBC reported January 28.

The new survey shows that 41% of Internet users throughout the world had purchased books online, compared to 34% just two years ago. Most of the growth is in emerging markets. The highest percentage of online book purchases were made by South Korean Internet users (58% or about 18 million people). About 55% of German users bought books online, and 54% of Austrian and Vietnamese users did so.

In the US, Nielsen reported that 57.5 million customers bought books online, representing only about 38% of Internet users. In the UK 45% of Internet users (14.5 million people) bought books online. More details at the BBC.