U.S. online consumer spending grew to $1.8 billion in 2004, up 14% over 2003, according to the Online Publishers Association.
Online personals/dating remained the leading paid content category in 2004, with spending at an all-time high of $469.5 million for the year, up 4% over 2003.
Spending on entertainment/lifestyles grew a remarkable 90%, from $217.6 million in 2003 to $413.5 million in 2004, while spending on business/investment content declined 6% over that period, according to the report.
The sports and games categories also showed strong annual growth of 38% and 22%, respectively. In addition, 19 million US consumers paid for online content in the fourth quarter of 2004, up 2.6 million from 2003.
With growth in paid content consumers outpacing growth in U.S. Internet users, paid content consumer penetration in during the fourth quarter reached its highest point yet — 11.6% — while average consumer spending remained flat.
This report is based on information from more than 1 million US online consumers.
Network
