Internet Audience in the U.S. is on Upward Path
There were 188.1 million Internet users in the U.S. during 2007, according to eMarketer. This reflected a growth of 3.4%. In 2008, the audience is expected to grow another 3.1% to 193.9 million, which is approximately two-thirds of the country’s total population. By 2012, eMarketer projects 216.9 million Internet users in the U.S., or about 71% of the projected total population.
The surprising finding is not the increasing number of people accessing the Web, but the amount of time each user is spending online. A study conducted by the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future found that in 2007, a U.S. Internet user spent an average of 15.3 hours online per week, a noticeable increase from the 8.9 hours per week observed in 2006.
This is likely due to the rapidly growing popularity of online video and social networks, which are engaging by nature, in addition to “sticky” online poker sites.
As expected, younger users spend more time online. Forty-five percent of young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 spent three or more hours online per day.
Females accounted for 51.7% of all U.S. Internet users in 2007, while males made up the remaining 48.3%. This 52/48 split is expected to remain consistent through 2011.
In terms of race/ethnicity, non-Hispanic white users made up 73.3% of the online population in the U.S. in 2007. African American users made up 11.0% of the Internet population, while Hispanic users made up 10.0% of the online population. Asian Web users accounted for 5.8% of the total Internet population.
The breakdown for 2008 is expected to be 72.4% for non-Hispanic white users, 11.2% for African American users, 10.4% for Hispanic users, and 6.0% for Asian users. Every race/ethnicity (including “other”) besides non-Hispanic whites will gain in 2008 and beyond, up until at least 2011, according to eMarketer’s projections.
