Internet in Russia and Ukraine – Part 1. General Information and Statistics – Email Marketing
Internet in Russia and Ukraine - Part 1. General Information and Statistics
Vyacheslav Melnik
User Base
The non-US and non-English Web segments have been boosted by a growing trend towards PC penetration and cheaper Internet access in the last couple of years. The US share of the global population online, once above ninety percent, is now under a quarter, while the number of Internet users who do not speak English at all continues to grow.
The Asia-Pacific region remains a key contributor to the increase in the number of non-English speakers on the Web, but the Russian Internet, aka Runet, demonstrates the accelerated pace of development as well.
The Russian language on the Web was represented by 2.7 percent in March 2003, said Global Reach http://www.global-reach.biz/globstats/index.php3, a consultancy that tracks non-English online populations. The share is quite minor, compared to English with its 35.2 percent. However, the growth rate of Runet is far more exciting; the Russian Internet audience has tripled over the last two years, registering a 40 percent increase annually. The February 2003 Report by SpyLOG http://gs.spylog.ru/interesting.phtmlid=51%20 indicates that the total users who surf the Russian portion of the Internet have reached about 15 million, 60 percent of whom live in Russia and seven percent in Ukraine. Moscow and St.-Petersburg account for 53 percent of the total Internet users in Russia. Similarly, the Ukrainian Internet surveys reveal that the vast majority 70 percent of Ukrainian users live in Kiev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov and Donetsk, according to freenet.kiev.ua and mct.kiev.ua as quoted in Kyiv Post Business March 20, 2003.
The Ukrainian user base grows as fast as its Russian counterpart. The total Internet users in Ukraine reached 2.5 million by year-end 2002, a 150 percent increase in a year, said the head of the Ukrainian State Committee for Communications and Information Technologies http://mignews.com.ua/events/ukraine/73927.html. Independent marketers confirm the recent trends on the Ukrainian Internet, or Uanet for short. For example, eRus.ru http://www.e-rus.ru/news/2003/03/251511_3939.shtml quoted GfK-USM, a marketing company, as stating that the regular Internet users in Ukraine accounted for 6.4 percent of the total population 3.1 million of 48.4 million in February 2003, and the number of the users who purchased products or services through the Internet was doubled when compared to February 2002.
Internet Access and Prices
Dial-up connection is the most common way of accessing the Internet in both Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian dial-up users, for example, pay $0.1 to $2.0 an hour for Internet access, depending on an ISP, time of day and availability of callback services. The monthly charge for unmetered access in Kiev currently ranges from about $4 midnight to 9.00 a.m. with no callback support to about $40 24-hour access via callback service. The callback service in Kiev will save you about $0.4/hour, an additional fee charged by Ukrtelecom for connection to the local telephone line.
The broadband access is rather expensive, ranging from $40/month IDSN, 64 K/s, 1 GB monthly data transfer to $300/month dedicated line, 64-128 K/s, unlimited transfer with a set-up fee of $200 to 300, plus some hidden charges that are quite common for the local providers. Thus, only corporate clients can enjoy the privilege of broadband subscription.
What Users are Searching for
Like Internet users worldwide, the majority of Russian and Ukrainian surfers search the Web for information. A Yandex poll http://www.yandex.ru/polling/9.html shows that about 24 percent searchers use the Web for easy reference and over 15 percent use it as a research tool. A further 12 percent of those polled said the Internet was a news source for them while only 14 percent preferred online entertainment services. An increase in personal consumption in Russia and Ukraine has made a positive impact on the regional Internet. Russians and Ukrainian are increasingly relying on the Internet in order to evaluate products or services before they make their final decision to buy, whether online or offline. Currently, about 1200 online shops are listed in Magazin.ru, the largest Russian e-commerce catalogue, while CNews.ru http://www.cnews.ru/reviews/online/ reported last year that the total number of operational online shops in Runet was 500 at the beginning of 2002. The most e-shops are online outlets of bricks-and-mortar businesses, but some "pure" online stores have opened their virtual doors as well. Most notable are bookstores such as Ozon, Biblio Globus and Books in Russia, and Bookshop, AzBooKa and Bambook in Ukraine. Despite a certain lack of high-quality online offerings in Runet and Uanet, surprisingly few Western sites offer the products and services that need no customs clearance. For example, web hosting fees in Ukraine are about two to eight times higher than those somewhere in the United States, but the service providers abroad seem to be in no hurry to enter the local market. This is also true for e-books, especially on programming and computing.
Spam and Spamdexing
Despite spam is still flourishing on the Russian Web, unsolicited email messages in Runet are far less aggressive than the email marketing campaigns in the US, when a news subscriber may receive bundles of advert mailings that are vaguely associated with his/her initial subscription.
The more pressing issue for both users and search engines is spamdexing, i.e. unfair tricks aimed at attaining high rankings in search engines. Searching Runet for a particular key phrase can give you dozens of mirrors and doorways. Some successful SE optimizers in Russia and Ukraine openly advertise that their promotion techniques are solely based on building doorways or cloaking, which currently seems unwise on the global Internet.
The top Russian search engines fight against spam in much as the most popular search engines do worldwide. For example, Yandex and Rambler penalize websites for using unfair tricks and encourage Runet users to report search engine spam. Many professional programmers and webmasters also voice their concerns about spamdexing. Articles by A. Shkondin at ClubPro.spb.ru http://clubpro.spb.ru/ provide some classic examples of how spammers play games with the Russian search engines and Internet surfers.
About The Author
Vyacheslav Melnik is the founder and owner of AzureL10n http://azurel10n.com/, a website specializing in web localization, copywriting and search engine optimization for Runet and Uanet, the Russian and Ukrainian portions of the Internet.
vm@azurel10n.com
Exercise and the Time Clock – Diet
Exercise and the Time Clock
Sherri L Dodd
I have to admit that I sometimes find it amusing when someone knows I am a trainer and proceeds to elaborate on the hours that they spend in the gym. One example was a few years back when I was introduced to a nice young women, who proceeded to tell me that she went to the gym twice a day, an hour each time. Unless this second hour was spent in the jacuzzi or making up for lost time due to chatting with fellow gym-goers during the earlier timeslot, I would be leary. Instead of being impressed by her exuberant enthusiasm for working out, my thoughts were that one of those hours might be better spent in a counseling office. Excessive exercising is unsafe and a sign of other deep-rooted problems. So, the question remains how many ticks on the clock should pass before you head for the locker room And what compels a person to go way overboard in their exercise routine
First off, if you are one of our valued clients, you already know that the Mom Looks Great program utilizes the thirty to forty-five minute workout. If you have even an inkling of exercise information in your noodle, you atleast know that even twenty minutes a day can benefit your heart. So why are some people intent on doing more, especially when there are serious consequences
The most common problem with over-exercising is injury to muscles and joints. The idea of regular exercise is to appropriately stress the muscle during exercise. This stress places small tears in the muscle, which upon repair, grow in size and strength, also known as hypertrophy. When the muscle is over-exercised, it goes beyond what is appropriate and can actually damage the muscle. Common areas of injury are legs, feet, back and shoulders as well as joints problems that include knees, ankles, elbows and wrists. This can lead to a lifetime of recurring injuries.
Another negative consequence to over-exercising is the compulsion that usually accompanies it. Eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia and other body starving diet tactics are dangerous enough. When you add an addiction of too much exercise to an already detrimental dieting tendency, you are left with the possibility of heart damage from insufficient fuel and nutrients to sustain the workout. While the aforementioned health issues are serious enough, an individual can also develop frequent headaches, loss of coordination and various stomach problems.
Over-exercising is not a physical disorder. While it will affect you physically, it is more of a symptom of depression or other mental illness. And if you think about it, over-exercising, eating disorders, feelings of inadequacy due to poor body image, poor judgment when evaluating priorities are all symptoms of depression. The bottom line here is when your choices begin to compromise your health, happiness or safety it is time to seek out effective counseling.
A lifestyle incorporating exercise is nothing but beneficial in many aspects. People exercise with a goal in mind whether it is to feel better, defuse stress or build muscle. Luckily, in addition to using an appropriate weight intensity during your workout, over-exercising can easily be detected with a simple time evaluation. I advise my clients not to go beyond one hour a day five days a week in a formal gym-type setting; and that is extremely generous. It is also easily controlled when you follow a specific routine. With the Mom Looks Great Fitness Program, you are guided to work different parts of your body throughout the week and have a variety of activities within your exercise regime. And just for good measure, remember that you cannot possibly overdo it by simply strolling your baby in the park or games of tag with your preschoolers. These forms of exercise are most welcome any time.
About The Author
Sherri Dodd is an ACE-certified Personal Trainer and Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant. She is also the creator and author of Mom Looks Great - The Fitness Program for Post Partum Women. With over fifteen years of exercise experience, she is dedicated to a life of fitness as well as encouraging others to seek healthy habits and a better quality of life.
http://www.momlooksgreat.com/
A Berger Lamp Will Eliminate Odor and Clean The Air! – Home
A Berger Lamp Will Eliminate Odor and Clean The Air!
Mike Yeager
A Berger lamp is different from other types of air fresheners in that a Berger lamp actually eliminates the odor, instead of just masking it. Also, a Berger lamp actively cleans the air, also something normal air fresheners don