Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Learn Saluting Europe’S Etowns

It’s frequently assumed that big cities practise goodness the most from the Internet, only nosotros believe the internet offers giant opportunities to everyone from urbanites to pocket-size town residents, farmers in addition to nature lovers inward the far-flung countryside. We of late tested this thesis inward our first-ever European Google eTown awards, which recognize those areas that had most embraced the web’s potential over the end year.

The results were fascinating—and surprising. Smaller, quirky in addition to plucky towns came out ahead. Scunthorpe, a steel town inward the due north of England, topped the U.K.’s list. Caen, a town inward rural Normandy non far from the D-Day beaches in addition to famed every bit the habitation of camembert cheese, came commencement inward France. Salerno, nestled betwixt the Amalfi in addition to the Cilento Coast led the agency inward Italia in addition to Elbląg, a remote northern town located inward the percentage of 1,000 lakes won inward Poland. In all 4 participating countries, eTown lists included towns of all sizes.

How did nosotros create upward one's heed our eTown awards? We broke downward the U.K., France, Italia in addition to Poland into all of their thousands of towns in addition to and hence ranked local areas according to the increment inward pocket-size businesses using AdWords over the end year. The scope towns inward each province won Google eTown awards.



The results dorsum upward recent question identifying the Internet every bit a original forcefulness driving increment throughout Europe. For example, a recent McKinsey study Internet Matters states that 2.6 Internet jobs are created globally for every chore destroyed. Separately, the Boston Consulting Group estimates that past times 2015 the spider web volition trouble organization human relationship for 7.3 pct of Denmark’s GDP, 10 pct of the U.K.’s gross domestic product in addition to 5.5 pct of France’s GDP. The internet drives increment of both big in addition to pocket-size businesses—indeed to a greater extent than or less other BCG study called “Turning Local” (PDF) makes clear that pocket-size businesses amongst a website grow faster than businesses without a spider web presence.

We’ve seen this ourselves, inward the businesses of all shapes in addition to sizes that nosotros encountered every bit purpose of our eTown awards. An entrepreneur inward Hartlepool inward the Britain sells golf game balls online. H5N1 Polish programmer runs a information recovery trouble organization from Piaseczno. An plumber directs a heating systems companionship from Vicenza, Italia in addition to a French retailer has reached novel scooter customers online inward Reims. Online advertising has helped them grow in addition to accomplish to a greater extent than customers than e'er before. When it comes to the Internet, our eTown awards present that anybody, most anywhere, tin boost a trouble organization past times going online.