The average time users spent online grew in double digit rates in six countries between May and October this year, and even in the U.S., which ranks second in amount of time consumers spend online, the average time online grew 7.7%, according to a new report from Nielsen/NetRatings.
The largest growth in time online was registered by German and Swedish consumers, who increased their use of the web by 21.6% between May and October. Germans were online an average of 10 hours, 32 minutes online in October vs. 8 hours, 39 minutes in May. Swedes were online 8 hours, 2 minutes in October vs. 6 hours, 36 minutes in May.
Hong Kong consumers retained their title as top online users, registering an average of 15 hours, 49 minutes in October, up 10.6% from 14 hours, 18 minutes in May. U.S. consumers were online the next longest times, spending 12 hours, 6 minutes on the Internet in October, up 7.7% from 11 hours, 15 minutes in May. Japanese consumers weren’t far behind the U.S., averaging 11 hours, 58 minutes online in October, up 8.4% from 11 hours, 2 minutes in May.
"The growth of high-speed Internet usage is pushing time online upwards, as well as surfers' increased familiarity and dependence on the Internet," said Richard Goosey, international chief of measurement science, NetRatings. "Between September 2001 and 2002 in Germany, for instance, the number of surfers using a DSL connection quadrupled. DSL surfers in Germany spend 21 hours a month online, compared to the six-and-a-half spent by their dial-up counterparts. We see similar patterns in other countries, such as Hong Kong, where broadband usage tops 75%, which is good news for both telecom providers and advertisers."
In the U.S., the average at-home user goes online 20 times a month, visits 50 domains and views 807 pages for an average of 48 seconds per page. The average user views 39 pages per online session during the average half-hour session. At-home users average 10 hours, 30 minutes a month.
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