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Over Three-Fourths of U.S. Active Internet Users Connect Via Broadband at Home in November, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 December 2006, 15:00 CST

Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ: NTRT), a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that 78 percent of active home Web users connected via broadband during the month of November, up 13 percentage points from 65 percent of active Web users a year ago.

Broadband Consumers are Heavy Internet Users

Broadband consumers are heavy Internet users compared to their narrowband counterparts. In November, with an average of 34 hours and 50 minutes per person, they spent 33 percent more time online than narrowband users, who had an average of 26 hours and 13 minutes per person. Among all time spent online during the month, 82 percent could be attributed to those connecting via broadband. In addition, broadband users viewed over twice as many Web pages as narrowband users, with averages of 1,574 and 681 Web pages per person, respectively.

Social Activities Dominate Broadband Time Online

Web sites for online gaming, instant messaging, e-mail and social networking all made the top 10 list when ranked by average time per person among broadband users at home (see Table 1). The Web has become an integral part of everyday social life, particularly among kids and teens.

Online gaming site Pogo.com led the pack among broadband users, with an average of four hours and 23 minutes per person in November. Another online gaming destination, Electronic Arts, ranked No. 2 with an average of 3 hours and 43 minutes per person. MSN Games and RuneScape also made the top 10, with average times reaching nearly two hours.

AOL Instant Messenger ranked No. 3 according to time spent by home broadband users, with an average of three hours and 24 minutes per person. Yahoo! Mail and Google Gmail were also among the top 10, both with averages over one and half hours.

Social networking favorite MySpace followed in fourth place, with a monthly average time spent of two hours and eight minutes per person.

"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."

 Table 1: Top Sites ranked by Time per Person among Broadband Users, November 2006 (U.S., Home only) Site          Broadband Time per   Broadband Percent      Broadband Unique               Person (hh:mm:ss)    of Site's Total Time   Audience (000) Pogo.com           4:23:16              90.89%                 6,029 EA - Electronic Arts Online        3:42:48              91.10%                 7,422 AOL Instant Messenger          3:23:36              87.13%                31,634 Myspace.com        2:07:34              88.61%                37,734 MSN Games          1:58:31              90.69%                 5,538 RuneScape          1:57:56              96.49%                 3,246 Yahoo! Mail        1:32:33              87.96%                39,310 Google Gmail       1:32:08              92.13%                 5,514 iTunes             1:30:17              89.61%                17,336 Trend Micro        1:21:38              97.10%                 1,197 Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, December 2006 Note: Web sites ranked by time per person among broadband users. Web sites with fewer than one million broadband unique visitors and/or with time spent via broadband at less than 82 percent of the site's total time were excluded. ********************************************************* 

Nielsen//NetRatings reports November 2006 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for November 2006.

 Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web Sites By Brand, November 2006 Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies,       Table 2. Top 10 Brands, Combined Home & Work                    Combined Home & Work Parent              Unique   Time Per   Brand            Unique   Time Per                     Audience Person                      Audience Person                     (000)    (hh:mm:ss)                  (000)   (hh:mm:ss) 1.  Microsoft       119,787  2:08:01    1.  Yahoo!       110,046  3:09:41 2.  Yahoo!          110,524  3:09:32    2.  Google       107,126  1:04:21 3.  Google          108,699  1:05:38    3.  MSN/ 4.  Time Warner     106,927  4:25:47        Windows Live  98,908  1:52:06 5.  eBay             71,225  1:49:50    4.  Microsoft     95,689  0:44:14 6.  News Corp.                          5.  AOL           78,370  5:27:46     Online           70,021  1:44:22    6.  eBay          64,202  1:49:13 7.  InterActiveCorp  61,241  0:25:14    7.  Fox 8.  Amazon           54,486  0:29:11        Interactive 9.  Walt Disney                             Media         61,045  1:52:54     Internet Group   47,710  0:35:09    8.  Amazon        48,584  0:27:49 10. New York Times                      9.  MapQuest      41,761  0:12:11     Company          43,624  0:17:13    10. Ask Search                                             Network       39,847  0:24:51 

Example: The data indicates that 43.6 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the New York Times Company-owned sites or launched a New York Times Company-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on average, a total of 17 minutes and 13 seconds at one or more of their sites or applications.

A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content.

Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers, November 2006

Top advertisers, ranked by estimated spending, are based on data from AdRelevance, Nielsen//NetRatings' advertising research service. An impression is counted as the number of times an ad is rendered for viewing.

 Top 10 Advertisers by Estimated Spending                               Total Estimated    Impressions Advertiser                           Spending          (000) 1.  GUS Plc                       $94,290,700     40,586,868 2.  NexTag, Inc.                  $43,037,000     25,746,625 3.  Netflix, Inc.                 $23,740,400      6,413,484 4.  Monster Worldwide, Inc.       $20,375,700      4,209,695 5.  Time Warner Inc.              $19,100,900      5,566,237 6.  InterActiveCorp               $18,327,900      6,412,161 7.  Vonage Holdings Corp          $18,081,300      6,607,430 8.  Verizon Communications, Inc.  $17,584,200      4,787,509 9.  Bank of America Corporation   $14,624,100      6,742,710 10. eBay, Inc.                    $14,601,700      2,099,002 

Estimated spending reflects CPM-based advertising online, and excludes search-based advertising, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, partnership advertising, advertorials, promotions and e-mail. Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are ads that run on an advertiser's own or related property and co-branding relationships.

Example: An estimated 2.1 billion eBay, Inc. ads were rendered for viewing at the cost of approximately $14.6 million during the surfing period.

About Nielsen//NetRatings

NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRT) delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

Editor's Note: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings.

 Contact: NetRatings, Inc. Suzy Bausch (408) 941-2965 Leilani Han (408) 941-2930  

SOURCE: NetRatings, Inc.

Source: MARKET WIRE

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