Press Release Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

Three Out of Four Americans Have Access to the Internet, According to Nielsen//NetRatings
Thursday March 18, 9:01 am ET
Online Population Surges Past 200 Million Mark for the First Time

 

NEW YORK, March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reports that nearly 75 percent or 204.3 million Americans have access to the Internet from home (see Table 1). In comparison, Internet access penetration hovered around 66 percent in February 2003, rising nine percentage points year-over-year.

"In just a handful of years, online access has managed to gain the type of traction that took other mediums decades to achieve," said Kenneth Cassar, director of strategic analysis, Nielsen//NetRatings.

     Table 1: Nielsen//NetRatings Internet Access Penetration (U.S., Home)

                      Persons with Web   Total Persons in          Internet
                          Access (000)        U.S. (000)*   Penetration %**
    Population (Ages 2+)       204,307            272,810             74.9%

    Source:  Nielsen//NetRatings Enumeration Study, February 2004

    * Total persons in the U.S. is based on the 2000 U.S. Census.

    ** Internet access penetration is defined as the percent of people who
       have access to the Internet, though not necessarily logging online
       during a specific timeframe.

Online American Demographics

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that women represent a higher proportion of Web surfers, with eighty-two percent or 34.6 million women between the ages of 35-54 accessing the Internet at home. Men in this age group posted an 80 percent access penetration rate, accounting for nearly 32.4 million surfers (see Table 2). Seventy-seven percent of females in the 25-34 age group are Web surfers, while 75.6 percent of males in this age bracket have Internet access.

"Women make the majority of purchases and household decisions, so it's no surprise that they are utilizing the Internet as a tool for daily living," said Cassar.

    Table 2: Nielsen//NetRatings Internet Access Penetration (U.S., Home)

                    Persons with Web     Total Persons            Internet
    Age/Gender Group    access (000)          in U.S.*     Penetration %**
    Females 35-54             34,614            42,350              81.70%
    Males 35-54               32,388            40,370              80.20%
    Females 25-34             14,114            18,340              77.00%
    Males 25-34               13,859            18,320              75.60%

    M / F 2 - 17              49,078            63,270              77.60%
    M / F 18 - 24             20,177            26,900              75.00%
    M / F 55+                 40,077            63,260              63.40%
    Total                    204,307           272,810              74.90%

    Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Enumeration Study, February 2004

    * Total persons in the U.S. is based on the 2000 U.S. Census.

    ** Internet access penetration is defined as the percent of people who
       have access to the Internet, though not necessarily logging online
       during a specific timeframe.

Internet access penetration rates are based on the Nielsen//NetRatings February 2004 monthly enumeration study, collected through random-digit dial phone survey. Internet access penetration is defined as the percent of people who have access to the Internet, but not necessarily logging online during a specific timeframe.

  • Nielsen//NetRatings reports February 2004 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for February 2004.

              Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and
                              Top 10 Web Sites By Brand
    
         Month of February 2004
    
        Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies,       Table 2. Top 10 Brands,
        Combined Home & Work                    Combined Home & Work
    
                            Unique  Time Per                 Unique   Time Per
        Parent            Audience    Person   Brand       Audience     Person
                             (000) (hh:mm:ss)                 (000)  (hh:mm:ss)
        1.  Microsoft      109,712   2:07:54   1.  MSN       95,218    1:50:55
        2.  Time Warner     97,602   5:15:29   2.  Microsoft 92,542    0:37:26
        3.  Yahoo!          94,678   2:40:55   3.  Yahoo!    92,222    2:44:15
        4.  Google          61,798   0:30:25   4.  AOL       71,968    6:20:34
        5.  eBay            58,639   1:39:57   5.  Google    61,290    0:30:17
        6.  United States                      6.  eBay      57,287    1:36:13
             Government     53,213   0:29:59   7.  Real      36,337    0:36:30
        7.  RealNetworks    36,587   0:38:53   8.  Amazon    33,385    0:16:58
        8.  Amazon          36,391   0:18:51   9.  Lycos
        9   InterActiveCorp 34,785   0:26:08        Network  30,943    0:09:54
        10. Terra Lycos     32,134   0:10:06   10. MapQuest  28,383    0:10:35
    
    
    

    Example: The data indicates that 32.1 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the Terra Lycos-owned sites or launched a Terra Lycos-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on average, a total of 10 minutes and 6 seconds at one or more of their sites or applications.

    A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content. Reach is a measure of the unduplicated audience that visits a property. The data is expressed as the percentage of the total universe of Internet users who logged onto the Internet at least once during the reporting period.

                  Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers
                                Month of February 2004
    
    

    Top advertisers, ranked by impressions, are based on data from AdRelevance, Nielsen//NetRatings' advertising research service. An impression is counted as the number of times an ad is rendered for viewing.

        Top 10 Advertisers by Company
    
        Advertiser*                            Impressions (000)
        Netflix, Inc.                                  3,139,768
        InterActiveCorp                                1,995,716
        Classmates Online, Inc.                        1,722,220
        LowerMyBills.com, Inc.                         1,675,000
        AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.                   1,643,114
        Ameritrade Holding Corporation                 1,598,834
        SBC Communications, Inc.                       1,475,854
        Ameriquest Mortgage Company                    1,448,639
        Dell Computer Corporation                      1,429,328
        Weight Watchers International, Inc.            1,329,383
    
        * Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are ads that run on an
          advertiser's own Web property.
    
    

    Example: An estimated 1.3 billion Weight Watchers International, Inc. advertisements were rendered for viewing during the surfing period.

    About Nielsen//NetRatings Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis and is the industry's premier source for online advertising intelligence with its NetView, AdRelevance, @Plan, WebRF, LemonAd, MegaPanel and SiteCensus services. Covering 70 percent of the world's Internet usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services offer syndicated Internet and digital media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

        Editor's Note:  Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings.
    
        CONTACT:  Grace Kim of NetRatings, Inc., +1-408-941-2932.
    

     



  • Source: Nielsen//NetRatings