• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 22, 2003

150 Million Users on the Internet

comScore Media Metrix announced that in September, the total number of U.S. Internet users passed the 150 million mark for the first time ever. Further, the total amount of time spent by Americans on the Internet grew by 3 percent in September, although the month of September is one day, or 3 percent, shorter than August.

"That this medium has now crossed a threshold of 150 million users is a reminder that while it continues to mature, the Web also continues to expand its reach among the total U.S. population every day," said Peter Daboll, president of comScore Media Metrix

In September, there were three new entrants to the Top 50 Properties ranking. Verisign's launch of SiteFinder, which redirects mistyped URLs to its site, drove a sharp spike of 540 percent in unique visitors.

Internet users tracking the progress of Hurricane Isabel drove gains in almost every property in the online Weather category, and an increase of 10 percent in visitors to the Weather category overall. And the Department of Commerce drew 45 percent more Americans, many of whom sought official government updates on the storm.

Many of September's top gaining properties, such as Reference.com, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Family Education Network, surged as both students and their parents turned to the Web for educational and other resources with the start of the school year.

The beginning of the National Football League season and Major League Baseball pennant races sent 4.5 million more fans to the Sports category - a gain of 9 percent versus August.

Total Minutes Spent Online Home, Work and University Locations September 2003

	Aug-03 (in millions)	Sep-03 (in millions)	% Change
Total Internet	236,728	244,121	3.1%
Home	142,631	140,337	-1.6%
Work	79,604	83,713	5.2%
University	14,494	20,071	38.5%

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Top10 Properties Total U.S. Unique Visitors - Home, Work and University Locations September 2003

	Unique Visitors (000)
Total Internet Users	150,045
1 MSN-Microsoft Sites	110,167
2 AOL Time Warner - Proprietary & WWW	109,335
3 Yahoo! Sites	108,096
4 Ebay	62,577
5 Google Sites	56,270
6 Terra Lycos	51,605
7 About/Primedia	43,656
8 Amazon Sites	36,295
9 Gator Network	34,158
10 Excite Network	32,750

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Top Gaining Categories/Sub-Categories Total U.S Unique Visitors - Home, Work and University Locations September 2003

	Aug-03 Unique Visitors (000)	Sep-03 Unique Visitors (000)	% Change
Total Internet Users	148,811	150,045	0.8%
Retail-Food	8,324	9,732	16.9%
Weather	38,100	41,757	9.6%
Sports	48,169	52,633	9.3%
Flowers/Gifts/Greetings	23,576	25,373	7.6%
Entertainment-TV	44,085	47,154	7.0%
Hobbies-Lifestyles-Food	22,959	24,322	5.9%
Hobbies/Lifestyles-Home	26,384	27,909	5.8%
Online Trading	10,739	11,256	4.8%
Entertainment-Music	62,210	65,116	4.7%

Source: comScore Media Metrix

For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.