Web 2.0 set to boom in Asia-Pacific

Expect Internet businesses in the Asia-Pacific region to start ringing the cash registers in two to three years, according to a new study released by IDC.

The research firm said the monetization of online business models will start happening then, due in large part to the size of the region's Internet population.

IDC estimates that there are currently 900 million consumers under the age of 16 using Web 2.0 products, accounting for a third of the online population. In comparison, this consumer age group accounts for less than 20 percent of the population in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

"This indicates Internet users are quickly going beyond e-mailing, chatting and Web surfing," according to the IDC statement.

In addition, over 80 percent of the 900 million young Web 2.0 consumers come from India and China. IDC's research explores Web 2.0 services such as multimedia and community-based models.

Sandra Ng, IDC's Asia-Pacific vice president of digital marketplace research practice, said: "The Digital Marketplace will flourish in Asia-Pacific because of the sheer size of the population, the growing consumer influence with the rise of new money, and government push to create a vibrant IT, Internet-savvy population in many parts of the region."

Ng also pointed to the rise of localization within the region, leading to "homegrown versions of global Web powerhouses".