Commentary

Broadband Surfers Are A Unique and Savvy Segment of the Internet Population

Broadband Surfers Are A Unique and Savvy Segment of the Internet Population

According to comScore Media Metrix 46.0 million (32 percent) of the 142.7 million U.S. Home, Work and College-University Internet users in October 2002 connected to the Internet via broadband. While broadband users represented only 32 percent of the total U.S. Internet population in October, they:
  • Accounted for 44 percent of total usage minutes in the month
  • Consumed 49 percent of total pages viewed online
  • Surfed the Internet virtually every day of the month on average versus 18 days for the average dial-up user

    Key Usage Metrics of Broadband and Dial-Up Internet Users October 2002
    U.S. Home/Work/College-University Audiences

    Total AudienceBroadbandDial-up
    Total Unique Users (000): 142,72846,03996,689
    % Composition Unique Visitors: 100% 32% 68%
    Average Daily Visitors (000): 99,66144,055 55,606
    Total Minutes (MM): 193,404 85,174108,230
    Total Pages Viewed (MM): 364,431 178,709185,722
    Average Pages per Usage Day: 118 131108
    Average Minutes per Visitor: 1,3551,8501,119
    Average Pages per Visitor: 2,5533,8821,921

    Internet Site Categories Ranked By Broadband Visitor Composition October 2002
    U.S. Home/Work/College-University Audiences

    Total Broadband Visitors (000)Broadband Visitors As % of Total Visitors
    Total Internet 46,039 32%
    Taxes 1,20055%
    Radio5,81052%
    Shipping7,83452%
    Car Rental1,69149%
    Politics4,42349%
    Classifieds7,31548%
    Jewelry/Luxury Goods3,95348%
    Movies13,834 47%
    Hotels/Resorts6,32647%
    Weather 17,32347%
    Home Furnishings5,01247%
    Consumer Goods7,54446%
    Multimedia25,13746%
    Online Gambling16,38846%
    Comparison Shopping10,132 45%

    Shopping Traffic Among Broadband Users:

    Retail is among the most closely watched sectors during the fourth quarter, and the category attracted 36.6 million (80 percent) of October's 46.0 million broadband Internet surfers.

    And, these and other users on the Internet rang up almost twice as many sales this year as last. As comScore first observed in 2001, the online season starts in earnest on the Monday following Thanksgiving. Indeed, sales on Dec. 2 skyrocketed 49 percent versus last year to $380 million -- effectively creating a "Black Monday" for online retail. comScore further reported in its weekly holiday e-commerce update that total online consumer sales for the full week ending Black Friday - Nov. 29 totaled $1.5 billion, up 41 percent versus the comparable Thanksgiving week last year, which ended Nov. 23, 2001.

    Consumer Online Dollar Sales Thanksgiving Weekend and Black Monday 2002 (Excluding auctions/ $ in Millions)

    ThanksgivingBlack FridaySaturdaySundayMonday
    11/2811/2911/3012/112/2
    Total $148.2$195.6$200.8$204.8$379.5
    Non-Travel$95.5$150.9$154.1$154.3$231.5
    Travel$52.7 $44.7$46.7 $50.5$148.0

    Source all: comScore Media Metrix

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    About the Author

    Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.