• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, June 20, 2004

E-Mail An Internet Anchor

In a DataMemo from ComScore, the importance of email in today's society emerges. The memo notes that Google's launch of Gmail and Yahoo's recent enhancements to its e-mail service have highlighted the importance of e-mail as one of the central applications of the Internet. E-mail services draw a large and loyal audience with a high degree of repeat visitation. Moreover, 15 percent of the average user's time online is spent at sites in the E-Mail category.

Topline Stats:

- 74 percent of the online population, or 115 million people, visited at least one site in the E-Mail category in May.

- The average visitor to the E-Mail category visits 12 days out of the month. 15 percent of the total time spent online by U.S. Internet users is at sites in the E-Mail category.

- The average E-Mail category visitor viewed 202 pages in May.

- Yahoo! Mail, AOL E-Mail and MSN Hotmail make up the triumvirate of Web-based e-mail, each drawing more than ten times as many visitors as any other site in E-Mail category.

- Yahoo! Mail reached 35 percent of the Internet population, or 54 million visitors, the largest audience of any E-Mail category site in May.

- The average AOL E-Mail visitor returns 12 days per month, making it the leader in usage frequency.

- Hotmail visitors view more pages on average than do visitors to Yahoo! Mail or AOL E-Mail

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