• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 17, 2002

At Work Internet Use Peaks Between 10am and Noon

According to a recent report from Nielsen//NetRatings, roughly 46 million people in the US went online from work in August 2002, and eMarketer estimates that there will be 152.8 million US net users this year.

And, while the at-home user growth was between three and four percent throughout the year from the same month last year, the at-work growth was 17 percent in August against last year, holding double-digit growth since April.

According to August 2002 hour-by-hour usage data, Nielsen also finds that prime usage hours at work are between 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M., when 86% of at-work users surveyed were logged on. This compares to at-home usage, which is highest in the evening between 5:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M. (which makes sense considering people are usually coming home from work around that time of day).

In 2001, Forrester Research estimated that 55% of internet users in North America went online from home and work.

At-Home vs. At-Work Internet Users in US, July 2001 (% total respondents)
- Connect at work and at home 55%
- Connect at home, not at work 33%
- Connect at work, not at home 11%
Source: Forrester Research, July 2001

To put the Nielsen percentages into perspective for 2002, eMarketer estimates that there will be 152.8 million internet users in the US in 2002.

US Internet Users (millions)

	Total Users	Users ages 14+
2000	124.0	112.6
2001	142.8	129.6
2002	152.8	138.6
2003	162.0	147.0
2004	174.9	158.8

Source: eMarketer, May 2002

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