In September, more than 27 million Internet users between the ages of two and 17 logged online from home. Twelve million children aged two to 11 accessed the Internet from home while 14.9 million teens aged 12 to 17 connected online, according to a report by Nielsen//NetRatings.
Last month, kids between the ages of two and 17 represented 21% of active at-home Internet users or one out of five Web surfers.
The two groups, kids and teens, have markedly different online tastes.
Diva Starz, a Mattel company Web site for the Diva Starz line of dolls, was most popular with the two to 11 age group. Fifty-four percent of the site’s audience was kids aged two to 11. Rounding out the top five sites after Diva Starz was ToonTown Online (47%), Polly Pocket (46%), Barbie (41%) and DisneyChannel.com (39%).
Among teens, Originalicons.com had the highest concentration of those age 12 to 17, making up 78% of its audience. The site is a popular destination for downloading instant messaging icons. Not far behind was Blunt Truth (76%), Teen People (74%), FireHotQuotes.com (73%) and Buddy4u.com (73%).
Leading the way as the region with the greatest concentration of Internet-savvy kids is Salt Lake City, which had 255,000 kids, representing 25% of the region’s at-home Internet audience. Ranked second was Cincinnati (24%) followed by Boston (22%), Sacramento (22%) and Phoenix (22%).
“Children accounted for one in four at-home Internet users in Salt Lake City as compared to the other top ten local marketers, which reported one in five,” Dawn Brozek, senior analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings, said in a statement. “Many markets now have a high percentage of Internet-savvy kids, which marks the Internet as a significant delivery channel in reaching this demographic.”
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