• by Masha Geller , March 6, 2002

Is it me, or are Nielsen//NetRatings and Jupiter Media Metrix releasing an unusually high number of research reports since they decided not to merge?

Regardless of their motives, Nielsen did announce some significant findings today. Their Fourth Quarter 2001 Global Internet Trends report on Internet access and penetration, says there are a total of 498 million people worldwide who now have Internet access from home.

The results show that 24 million people gained Internet access at-home during Q4 as compared to Q3. The rate of growth of the global Internet population this past quarter was nearly double Q3's growth of 15 million people.

“Internet penetration and usage continues to grow across households and individuals,” said Richard Goosey, chief of measurement science and analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. “In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Germany continues to dominate in terms of absolute numbers of households and people with Internet access, recording the largest increase in the number of people and households gaining Internet access. In Latin America, Brazil is the dominant Internet market, while in Asia Pacific, South Korea continues to hold its top ranking, though Singapore experienced strong growth in Q4.”

The Q4 reports also identified demographic characteristics of global Internet populations. “In Europe and Latin America, household access to the Internet is skewed toward homes where the head of household is age 35 or younger,” Goosey said. “In Europe, Internet access is also most common in homes that are headed by men with university degrees. The same is true in Asia Pacific, where homes headed by men with university degrees are also most likely to have Internet access, though age is not a determining factor in that region.”