• by May 26, 2004

While online marketing and media programs don't receive the lion's share of marketers' dollars, they are gaining more traction as increasingly attractive online usage patterns and demographics emerge.

Average online usage and household broadband penetration is growing, and at the same time, large advertisers are migrating to the Web. A mid-year portrait of online usage by Nielsen//NetRatings shows that Web page views are up 26 percent for first quarter 2004 compared to the same period a year ago. Average time spent online jumped 11 percent year-over-year. But the real story behind changing Web usage patterns, according to Charlie Buchwalter, VP-client analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings, is the demographic one. "Buchwalter, speaking at a presentation during the Ad:Tech San Francisco show, observed that a growing number of segments are contributing to escalating online usage including males ages 35 to 49, persons in households with incomes of $150,000-plus and Asians/Pacific Islanders."

"They are spending more time online," Buchwalter says, emphasizing that "there is no doubt that broadband plays a role."

The groups indexed with higher percentages for Web page views, PC time and Web sessions, than what Nielsen refers to as the "Average Joe." Nielsen identified and indexed the top Web destinations frequented by these groups, which include Experts Exchange, Bloomberg.com, CDW, a direct sales technology provider, American Express Personal Cards, Marriott, Optimum Online, Fidelity Investments, Yahoo! Movies and Yahoo! Finance.

Separately, the Nielsen//NetRatings research found that at work, online users are more active than at home. For example, at work, 110 domains were visited per person vs. 58 at home.