U.S. Internet User Count Hits All-Time High
By Dick Kelsey, Newsbytes NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 13 Nov 2001, 1:10 PM CST
More people in the U.S. used the Internet in October than ever before, and three in five Americans have Net access, a Nielsen/NetRatings report said today.
Some 115.2 million Americans surfed the Net last month, up 4 percent from September for the largest monthly jump of the year, the rating service said. The total is 15 percent greater than the October 2000 count of 100.3 million.
About 176.5 million people in the U.S., or 62 percent of the population, had access to the Internet compared to 155.9 million, or 57 percent, in October 2000.
Much of the growth stems from lower prices for computers and a greater necessity to have Internet access, said Nielsen/NetRatings analyst Lisa Strand.
"We're seeing a lot of growth among people of lower income, people who have less education and in certain professions," Strand said. "It's becoming a bigger part of everyday life and more mainstream."
Harris Interactive said in a Net usage report last week that roughly 65 percent of adults in the U.S. use the Internet at home, which is only slightly higher than a year ago.
Nielsen/NetRatings, which takes all age groups into account, said the average online stay of 19 hours was nearly 9 percent longer than the year-ago mark of 17.5 hours. U.S. users averaged 35 sessions in October, up 6 percent from 33 sessions during the same time last year.
In the past year Internet use at home rose 14 percent to more than 103.7 million and the at-work crowd recorded a sign-on total of 40.1 million, 11 percent greater than the year-ago period.
Nielsen based its findings on data from more than 225,000 individuals with access to the Internet in 29 countries.
Nielsen//NetRatings is on the Web at nielsen-netratings.com
--------
newsbytes.com |
