• by Paul Gough , October 22, 2003

Who says the Internet has reached its peak?

Even though there are many signs that the growth of the Internet population is slowing, it managed another milestone this week: There are now 150 million Internet users in the United States, according to comScore Media Metrix.

There were other signs of growth from the September report released by comScore. Total time on the Internet rose 3.1 percent in a month that is one day shorter than the 31 days in August. Time spent on the Internet at work rose 5.2 percent but Internet use at home dropped 1.6 percent. College students returned to the Internet in droves as classes resumed, with a 38.5 percent jump in online time among the university population.

The report also provides details on the top 10 Web properties, including top ranked Microsoft sites, followed closely by sites owned by AOL Time Warner and Yahoo. Rounding out the top 10 are Ebay, Google, Terra Lycos, About/Primedia, Amazon, Gator and Excite.

Moving up the most in the survey of top 250 sites in September were Verisign (up 541 percent on the strength of SiteFinder that grabs misdirected URLs), SPARKNOTES.com, Reference.com, Encylopedia Britannica, Weight Watchers International, PBS.org, the U.S. Department of Commerce, SNAPFISH.com, General Mills and Family Education Network.

--Paul J. Gough