• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 24, 2007

Content Replaces Communications As Primary Web Use

According to the Online Publishers Association, Internet users are spending nearly half their online time visiting content, a 37% increase in share of time from four years ago. The Internet Activity Index, conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings, shows that communications accounted for 46% of consumers' time online in 2003. A dramatic shift has taken place since then, with consumers now spending 47% of their time with content and only 33% with communication.

OPA president, Pam Horan, said "The IAI has identified a very significant and sustained trend in where consumers are spending their online time...  over the last four years, the primary role of the Internet has shifted from communications to content."

And, in a recent EMarketer report,  Paul Verna, eMarketer Senior Analyst, says "Some of the major players in the industry are fearful that the widespread availability of video content on the Internet will threaten traditional TV and film distribution models... (while) others see the potential to increase revenues through a variety of new business models, including ad-supported streaming, pay-to-own downloads, subscription services and online rentals."

Horan continued, "...Major news events such as Hurricane Katrina and high profile seasonal events... are clearly driving consumers to engage more deeply with online content... but traffic remains consistently higher even after the event."

The OPA found a number of other important factors behind the changes, including:

• A more accessible, and much faster, Internet is driving increased overall time spent online.
• The increased popularity of video is leading to more time being spent with online content.
• The improvement in search allows consumers to more easily and quickly find the exact content they are looking for, increasing the likelihood they will engage more deeply with that content.
• The Web simply offers far more content than it did even four years ago, increasing content's share of time.
• The rise of instant messaging (IM) as a key communications tool has been a factor in communication's reduction in share of time. IM is a more efficient communications vehicle than email.

By way of definition, the Internet Activity Index (IAI) looks at consumer engagement online, through web sites and Internet applications that are designed primarily to provide,

• Content - news, information and entertainment.
• Communications - the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information directly between individuals or groups of individuals.
• Commerce - shopping online.
• Search - scanning the Web to provide prioritized results based on specific criteria from user-generated requests.

For more information, please visit the Online Publishers Association here.