European Companies to Accelerate Web Spending.

European Web site operators have committed to spending more than twice as much per Web site this year than their North American counterparts, a new survey shows. ActivMedia Research, said its sixth annual study of electronic commerce and Web site development costs discovered that Europe will average a $77,000 investment per site while North America reported an average investment of $33,500. The numbers are from the research company_s "Real Numbers Behind Net Profits 1999"study. The development bodes well for rapid expansion of European e-commerce, the company said. While North America, and particularly the U.S., continues to dominate e-commerce around the world, online populations are burgeoning," said Harry Wolhandler, ActivMedia_s vice president of market research."Europe has nearly half as many online users as North America, and the Asia/Pacific Rim countries have nearly a third," he added."Latin America, late to start, has a growing Internet presence, especially in Brazil. The analyst community has been watching non-U.S. countries closely to see where the next success story will arise. According to consumer-oriented Web site managers in our study, European e-commerce will surge in 2000, when global consumer e-payment and anti-fraud systems strengthen, and current non-U.S. Web site investments in e-commerce enabling take hold."