According to the research conducted by S&P Equity Research, the year 2011 is bound to show solid growth and development in the Internet segment with double-digit gains for U.S. Internet advertising and retail spending. The 2011 Internet segment will experience continual challenges for Google (News - Alert), strategic changes at Yahoo, Apple cloud offering, as well as innovative offerings from China.

For the 2011 internet industry, several predictions were made by Scott Kessler, Information Technology analyst at S&P Equity Research. The Research showed that there will be 10 percent increase in U.S. online advertising revenue and online retail shopping. At least one significant transaction will be engaged by Yahoo to generate shareholder value with the possibility of sale of the stake in Alibaba Group. Baidu will expand internationally beyond China while Google will experience further issues with China, related to registration and Google Maps operations.

After the blocking of Google’s proposed acquisition of ITA (News - Alert) software, Google will continue to fight regulatory and legal woe, incurring as significant penalty or loss. Recognized as the biggest beneficiaries of online consumers, Amazon.com (News - Alert) will experience around 25 percent increase in revenue growth compared to last year. The research also forecasted that the number of subscribers for both Amazon and Netflix will increase to 27 million by year end from the forecasted 29 million last year. Apple’s cloud solutions will allow customers to access music and video files over the internet as well as synch with compatible devices. The research showed that PayPal accounts will outnumber the number of active eBay users.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of a public traded Internet company, Expedia’s (News - Alert) TripAdvisor will continue to invest and make progress in China. Also it has been predicted that priceline.com will provide M&A activity that are focused on and in the country. S&P Equity is also expecting notable M&A actions with Google remaining active. With the IPO market coming up in the second half of 2010, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (News - Alert) are not expected to file S-1s in 2011 due to availability of sufficient capital as well as financing flexibility.