U.K. web stats preview where U.S. is heading

The most recent U.S. demographic reports from e-Marketer say that more lower income people, more women and more older people will use the Internet in years to come. A new report from NetValue on the U.K. market shows similar demographic trends. More than a quarter of U.K. Internet users earn less than 600 pounds ($1,000) per month, according to the Internet monitoring company. NetValue also says that one in five Internet users, or 19.2%, is over 50 years old.

However, not all the statistics mirror the U.S. trends. Unlike the United States, more men are online in U.K. than women. Men make up 59.1% of users, while in the U.S., women are ahead of men, 51%-49%. Top web sites also are similar. The top web site in U.K. as of April was Amazon.co.uk, with the U.S.-based Amazon.com coming in second. Other retailers in the top ten included Cdnow.com at #8 and half.com at #10.