As broadband access becomes cheaper, online business becomes more embraced, and more of the public comes to the realization we all come to at some point (that dial-up royally sucks), faster Internet connections have become the norm, not the luxury.
Nielsen//NetRatings reports that 78 percent of active home Web users have a broadband connection, up 13 percentage points over a year ago.
Also, the adoption of broadband is directly related to Internet consumption, which also makes tremendous sense. Like in the days of the Commodore 64, when we’d begin loading a game and then go to dinner, there’s only so much you can do with 56k.
It is surprising that that only a broadband users spend only a third more time than narrowband users, logging nearly 35 hours of surfing in November, compared to narrowband use at 26 hours. Though broadband users are online only a third more, they view more than twice as many webpages per month (1574 vs. 681).
The Four Horseman of the Web, online gaming, instant messaging, e-mailing and social networking, are all in the top ten online activities, ranked according to average time broadband users spend on these sites.
Pogo.com was the most popular gaming site, sucking surfers in for an average of four hours and 23 minutes per person. Electronic Arts wasted three hours and 43 minutes of people’s time, followed by MSN Games and RuneScape each with average times at about two hours.
Surfers spend about an hour and half a month at Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail, and just over two hours at MySpace.
“What most of these Web sites have in common is that they engage the consumer for an extended period of time by offering a way to connect with others,” said Carolyn Creekmore, senior director of media analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings.
“Online games provide an outlet for camaraderie and playfulness, while instant messaging, e-mail and social networking allow for more direct, albeit often equally creative, communication.”
The Top Ten Sites By Average Time Spent:
1. Pogo.com
2. EA Online
3. AOL Instant Messenger
4. MySpace
5. MSN
6. Runescape
7. Yahoo Mail
8. Google Mail
9. iTunes
10. Trend Micro
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