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King: "UK has lax attitude to web"

The British media industry is still pouring money into its online investments without a clear idea of strategy or return on investment, according to new research.

However, although 73% of media businesses trade internationally and 63% have an objective to generate revenue through the web, only 46% have an international web strategy.

Graham Opie, director of Vanson Bourne, said: "Even though the media has been quick to adopt the web and attempt to draw new revenue from it, many companies have yet to put the right business processes in place to fully capitalise on the web's economic potential."

Ian King, Akmai general manager, Northern Europe, believed that much of the uncertainty stemmed from structural issues within companies, with the board not liaising effectively with the IT and content departments.

The survey also highlights a gulf between the objectives of site owners and the technical practicalities. For example, 90% have a clear objective to attract new customers through the web, but only 50% are tracking new visitors.

Surprisingly, in the light of recent cutbacks, 80% of media companies still don't believe the current economic market conditions will affect their current web strategy or future development.

Of the wider findings, King concluded: "It's shocking to see just how many UK firms still hold a blind faith in their web strategy, but have little evidence to support its success.

"It is imperative that the key decision makers know exactly what the return on their internet investment is, but UK plc seems to have an extraordinarily lax attitude when it comes to the web."