Internet Usage Climbs to Record High in October, with 115 Million Americans Online, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

Business Wire, Nov 13, 2001

Business Editors/Internet Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2001

The Internet ratings report for the month of October 2001 from Nielsen//NetRatings, the world's fastest growing Internet measurement service, revealed that Internet usage in the U.S. reached an all-time high, rising four percent in October and spiking 15 percent year-over-year to more than 115.2 million users (see Table 1). The four percent growth in Web usage is the largest increase seen in 2001.

Overall growth of the active Internet population swelled 15 percent during the past year. Surfers accessing the Internet at-home fueled the increase, jumping 14 percent to more than 103.7 million Internet users. The number of office workers logging online grew 11 percent in October to more than 40.1 million.

"The active Internet universe hit an all-time high in October, climbing four percentage points. This indicates that the overall health of the Internet is solid in spite of the current economic conditions and recent national events," said Sean Kaldor, vice president of analytical services, NetRatings (Nasdaq:NTRT).

"Last year, from October to December 2000, we witnessed an 8 percent surge in Web users. If a similar trend appears again in the fourth quarter of this year, we are establishing a firm base for stable growth of holiday ecommerce traffic."

Table 1. Nielsen//NetRatings Active Internet Population Trend,
         (U.S., Combined Home & Work)
------------------------------------------------------
Month                         Active Internet Universe
------------------------------------------------------
October 2001                            115.2  million
September 2001                          110.8  million
August 2001                             112.6  million
July 2001                               112.6  million
June 2001                               112.9  million
May 2001                                113.7  million
April 2001                              113.1  million
March 2001                              112.7  million
February 2001                           109.5  million
January 2001                            111.1  million
December 2000                           108.7  million
November 2000                           105.3  million
October 2000                            100.3  million
------------------------------------------------------
      Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, October 2001
      Note: Active Internet universe is the total number of users who
accessed the Web at least once during the given time period.

Sixty-Two Percent of All Americans Have Internet Access

Three out of five, or 62 percent of all Americans had Internet access in October 2001, as compared to 57 percent last year (see Table 2).

Web usage continues to grow. Surfers spent more time online and logged onto the Internet more frequently in October as compared to last year. On average, Web surfers spent 19 hours online during the month of October, rising nearly nine percent from 17.5 hours the year prior. Americans are accessing the Internet more frequently, averaging 35 sessions in October. This is a six percent jump year-over-year from 33 sessions during the same time last year.

Table 2. Nielsen//NetRatings Internet Penetration,
         (U.S., Combined Home & Work)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Current                Census            Internet
Month             Internet Universe      Population        Penetration
----------------------------------------------------------------------
October 2001       176.5 million          285.5 million        62%
October 2000       155.9 million          275.8 million        57%
----------------------------------------------------------------------
      Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, October 2001
      Note: Current Internet universe is the total number of users who
had access to the Web during the month, but did not necessarily log on
during the given time period.

      October Internet Audience Ratings

      The following set of at-home and at-work information includes: Top
25 Web Properties and Average Web Usage for the month of October 2001.


           Nielsen//NetRatings: Top 25 Web Sites by Property
                         Month of October 2001
              Ranking of the Most Visited Web Properties

Top 25 Properties, Combine Home & Work
-----------------------------------------------------------------

                                            Unique        Time Per
                                          Audience          Person
Property                                     (000)      (hh:mm:ss)
------------------------------------------------------------------
1.       AOL Time Warner                    80,593         1:23:06
2.       Yahoo!                             71,142         2:19:17
3.       MSN                                66,905         1:49:38
4.       Microsoft                          44,098         0:13:23
5.       Lycos Network                      34,212         0:17:41
6.       Amazon                             27,800         0:19:24
7.       About-Primedia                     26,617         0:11:52
8.       Walt Disney Internet Group         26,281         0:39:41
9.       eUniverse Network                  24,181         0:17:34
10.      eBay                               23,092         2:18:37
11.      Google                             21,271         0:31:22
12.      American Greetings                 21,263         0:14:02
13.      Excite@Home                        20,616         1:00:01
14.      CNET Networks                      18,990         0:16:39
15.      InfoSpace                          18,880         0:12:34
16.      Ask Jeeves                         16,675         0:10:19
17.      ClassMates Online                  15,042         0:09:50
18.      Vivendi Universal                  13,195         0:19:52
19.      AT&T                               12,977         0:29:39
20.      CitySearch/Ticketmaster Online     11,286         0:23:40
21.      Homestore                          11,142         0:17:13
22.      Gannett LTD                        10,876         0:25:12
23.      Homestead.com                      10,863         0:05:20
24.      EarthLink                          10,734         0:23:57
25.      Real Networks                      10,592         0:12:09

      Example: The combined home and work data indicate that nearly 10.6
million home & work Internet users visited at least one of the Real
Networks -owned sites during the reporting period, and each person
spent, on average, a total of 12 minutes and 9 seconds at one or more
of their sites.

      Notes: Rankings are based on audience measurement of people who
have access to the Internet at-home and at-work. Work rankings are
based on persons at-work who have access to a non-shared personal
computer. A property is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains
and URLs owned by a single entity. Reach is a measure of the
unduplicated audience that visits a property. The data are 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: Average Internet Usage Combined Home & Work
                         Month of October 2001

      Data below represent activity for the average Internet user
at-home and at-work during the month.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             % Change
                        Home & Work,       Home & Work,          from
                             October          September     September
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of Sessions
 per Month                        35              32           +9.4

Page Views per Month           1,194            1,085         +10.1

Page Views per
 Surfing Session                  35               34          +2.9

Time Spent per Month        19:02:35          17:05:45        +11.4

Time Spent During
 Surfing Session             0:32:44           0:31:50         +2.8

Duration of a Page
 viewed                      0:00:57           0:00:56         +1.2

Active Internet
 Universe (actually
 surfed)               115.2 million      110.8 million        -1.6

Current Internet
 Universe Estimate
 (had access, but
 did not necessarily
 go online)            176.5 million      175.3 million        +1.4