iPads struggle on popular websites

While the iPad is the hottest fashion accessory for the gadget freak, recent research has revealed that users might not be getting the best out of the Apple tablet.

According to a survey from Zeus Technology, a third of the top 100 websites, as categorised by Nielsen perform poorly on the iPad. And these aren't the more obscure sites on the list either, the bad performers include the likes of eBay, Twitter and Expedia.

Problems highlighted by the survey include, length of time to open a website, with a third of the sites taking more than a second to load. It does not sound too serious but according to research from Amazon, every 100 milliseconds of latency in web page delivery time results in a one per cent drop in sales.

In addition, the survey found that a further third of the top 100 sites offered video that wouldn't work on iPad and more than a quarter failed to support personalisation options - such as user log-ins.

Kosten Metreweli, chief marketing officer, Zeus Technology, said, "With the iPad, a new wave of users will be accessing the web through these devices in the next few months. However, consumers are unlikely to be forgiving if websites fail to perform, no matter what device they are accessing it from. Although not all performance issues can be planned for, businesses can take simple steps to ensure services do not fail when their consumer base needs them most."