The business opportunities of the internet are still wide open for companies vying to become top global brands, says Google’s head of European operations.

Online consumer preferences are not yet fixed and the next 10 years will see significant upheaval in traditional business sectors, Nikesh Arora told the Institute of Directors (IoD) annual convention at the Royal Albert Hall in London last week.

‘No business can claim to be established over the next five to 10 years, given the fabulous opportunity with which the internet provides us,’ he said.

The rise of Amazon as the world’s biggest bookseller shows that traditional market leaders will not necessarily maintain their dominance in the online world, says Arora.

The growth of the web parallels the changes of the industrial revolution. The 19th century saw a shift from a local economy to a national economy, and from a rural population to an urban population, he says.

The internet revolution is a similar shift, but from a national economy to a global economy and from an urban society to an international society.

‘The internet has brought choice and competition, with specialisation in certain kinds of production in different parts of the world,’ said Arora.

In terms of customers, the internet has created a truly global market. According to figures quoted by Arora, there are now one billion internet users worldwide – only 17 per cent of the population, but representing 89 per cent of global gross domestic product.

‘That is a significant business opportunity,’ said Arora.

‘The internet allows you to stock and showcase to consumers for a fraction of the margin of having a whole store.

‘And the landscape is still wide open because people are still going out there and developing their preferences.’

The massive increase in the size of the market is offset by the ease with which potential customers can go elsewhere.

‘Google is only ever one click away from the competition so we have to build the best possible products,’ said Arora.