A new survey estimates that between 300,000 and 400,000 Irish adults have Internet access and the number is growing monthly.

ICAN, the Internet advertising network, predicts that the Irish online advertising spend will be £2.5 million (€3.17 million) by the end of this year, and £8.6 million by 2001. The "Online Advertising Survey" was carried out by the Association of Advertisers of Ireland (AAI) and ICAN. It examined advertisers' perception of the Internet and sought their views on the role of the medium as a marketing tool.

The survey found that insufficient resources are currently being devoted to website content. However, despite the uncertainty about the new medium, Irish advertisers widely regard the Internet as a marketing tool with significant potential.

One of the more interesting findings was that Irish advertisers were not up on their techno-jargon at all. When asked for their definitions of "page impressions", "CPM" and "Clickthrus", 67 per cent of the answers provided were incorrect.