Italy

There were 30,026,400 internet users in Italy (representing 51.7% of the population) in September 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 127.5% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, November 2009)

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There are an estimated 26.4 million internet users in Italy in 2009, according to eMarketer. The country ranks among the top 15 worldwide in number of internet users.

Internet users and penetration in Italy in 2008-2013:
- 2008: 25.3 million (43.5% of the population)
- 2009: 26.4 million (45.4%)
- 2010: 27.5 million (47.3%)
- 2011: 28.5 million (49.1%)
- 2012: 29.5 million (50.9%)
- 2013: 30.3 million (52.3%)
(eMarketer, June 2009)

There were 18,089,093 active internet home users in Italy in June 2009, according to Nielsen Online. This was up by 1.80% compared to the previous month. (ClickZ, August 2009)

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42% of households in Italy had access to the internet during the first quarter of 2008, according to the results of the survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage by Eurostat. This was up from 43% in 2007 and 40% in 2006. (Eurostat, December 2008)

7% of all individuals in Italy had used internet for ordering goods or services in the first quarter of 2008, according to the results of the survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage by Eurostat. (Eurostat, December 2008)

Online advertising

Online advertising in Italy is rising steadily, despite the gloomy financial climate. Online ad spending was estimated to reach €730 million ($1.07 billion) in 2009, up 14.9% on its 2008 value of €630 million ($930 million), according to the "This Year, Next Year Worldwide Winter 2008" study by GroupM. But the Internet will still account for just a tiny fraction (7.5%) of total ad spending in Italy, according to GroupM. (eMarketer, June 2009)

20% of all individuals aged 16-74 in Italy had used internet for travel and accommodation services in the first quarter of 2008, according to the results of the survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage by Eurostat. (Eurostat, December 2008)

Travel Booking

By 2011, Italy is expected to represent 4% of the European market, unchanged compared to 2008 level, according to PhoCusWright's European Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition. (PhoCusWright FYI 09/12/09, December 2009)

In an internet attack nicknamed "The Italian Job," several thousand Italian tourism Web sites have been infected by software that quietly gains control of computers visiting them and seeks out confidential financial data, according to Trend Micro a computer security firm.

Trend Micro said it detected more than 4,500 travel sites in Italy that have been infected as part of a scheme through which data on computers that visit those sites is being stolen and sent to a server located in Chicago. This marks the most widespread attack ever in which malicious software has been spread by using infected websites.

The rapidly spreading "Italian Job" program secretly installs so-called trojan software that takes control of a computer, recording information entered into the computer - including credit card numbers and other personal data sought by criminals.

The compromised sites were mainly small tourism sites bearing Italian web domains, including http://www.adriahotel.it, http://wwww.bestoftuscany.it and http://www.mothertheesacause.info.

Trend Micro said it was not clear who the hackers were, why they targeted travel sites in Italy, one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, or how many computers had been infected by the software. (eTurboNews, June 2007)

31% of households in Italy had a broadband internet connection during the first quarter of 2008, according to the results of the survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage by Eurostat. This was up from 25% in 2007 and 16% in 2006. (Eurostat, December 2008)