The summer of 1999 is a time that will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was the year that the Backstreet Boys released their epic Millennium album, the Stormers rugby team briefly flirted with greatness and – perhaps more importantly - my voice finally broke, after years of relentless ridicule by my peers, friends as well as my parents.

An equally important event however, was undoubtedly the conception of Quirk eMarketing, which on the first of March will find itself blowing out an impressive ten candles on the birthday cake we’ve had made. This of course also gives us the perfect opportunity to sit back and reflect on what the Internet world was like a decade ago (which is like 150 years in the online world) and reminisce and muse the way old wrinkly people do at family braais (a.k.a. barbecues).

Search Engines Put their Hands Up
Ten years ago, a veritable smorgasbord of search engines were launched, including the likes of AlltheWeb, GenieKnows, and Naver. Who? Exactly.

Another search engine, by the name of “Google”, sent out its very first press release that year, in which it was claimed that:

"Google should become the gold standard for search on the Internet… Larry and Sergey's company has the power to turn Internet users everywhere into devoted and life-long Googlers."

This was also the year that they decided to move out of their garage office, after Larry’s mom decided she wanted to pull her car in during the day, as the sun was damaging her upholstery (allegedly).

But What of Facebook?
It’s hard to believe, but in 1999, if you wanted to stalk your ex-lovers, old school friends, and attractive strangers, you would have had to actually do it in person. Crazy, isn’t it? Facebook didn’t exist in those days, well, not in its current form anyway. A look through the Wayback machine shows what Facebook.com looked like back in those heady days:

The last line, “making sure you Never Misplace a Face” gave us some clue to the social behemoth that Facebook.com would become.

An Overview of the “Internet”
So what was the scope and reach of the Internet back then? Here are some interesting facts that you can use to impress and humiliate guests at your next dinner party (according to our friends at the Media Awareness Centre):

• Over 83 million adults, or 40 per cent of the US population over 16, were accessing the Internet (we’re now sitting on 108,096,800 people online in the States).
• Of these users, 3.7 million were using a handheld computer and 3.1 million were using a television set-top box or WebTV.
• Internet users were averaging 12.1 hours online per week compared to 32 hours per week today.

Back then, 85% of all Internet users had seen the hilarious video where the monkey smells his finger (it’s up to 98% today).

So now you know.

It’s also interesting to note that in a global survey of 500 CEOs only 49% said that the Internet would transform the market place. The rest of them were of the opinion that it was a fad which would quickly die out, like the pet rock phase or the movie career of the actor Pauly Shore.

And  the Mobile Web?
Some 1999 mobile milestones:

• April 1999 saw the emergence of the first mobiles able to send email and use the Web.
• On the 22nd of September the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee found no health risk from mobile phones apart from use while driving, though they urged manufacturers to continue research.

In South Africa, it’s also widely accepted that 1999 saw the first “Please Call Me” message, sent by one “S Oakes” on the Vodacom network.

So there you go, just a small glimpse of the Internet world a decade ago. Quirk eMarketing is now a sprightly ten year old, and it won’t be long until it becomes a rebellious 16 year old, pulling faces behind our backs, and sneaking out through the upstairs bedroom window. Be sure to subscribe to the blog and the newsletter to make sure you are a  part of this exciting journey.