• May 9, 2002

Sending and receiving email was the dominant online activity in 12 countries over the past six months, according to the Nielsen//NetRatings First Quarter 2002 Global Internet Trends report, released today. Nielsen//NetRatings found that at least 75% of households with Internet access participated in email.

"Of all the popular Internet applications, e-mail is the global activity of choice," said Richard Goosey, chief of measurement science, Nielsen//NetRatings. "We found that an impressive 90% of the adults in three major markets - Australia, the UK and the Netherlands - used e-mail over the past six months, though the percentages were high for all 12 countries.

"In contrast, involvement in chat rooms was lower than 30% in all countries except Brazil, where 41% of adult Internet users used chat rooms, and in Spain where 38% used chat rooms. Additionally, looking at audio-visual content and using Internet radio was well below 50% in all countries, and instant messaging has less than 30% penetration in several countries, including France, Germany and Italy.