Home Internet access reaches critical mass in the U.S.

[August 23rd 2000]

The Internet ratings report for the month of July 2000 from Nielsen//NetRatings indicates that Internet usage has reached critical mass in the U.S., with 52 percent of the home population surfing the Web in July. Nearly 144 million people in the U.S. had access to the Internet from home, compared to 106.3 million a year ago in July 1999, a growth rate of 35 percent over the past year.

"Lower prices for personal computers and competitive rates for high-speed Internet access has increased the demand for Internet use," said Sean Kaldor, vice president of e-commerce, NetRatings. "Internet access is growing dramatically each day due to cheaper access, making it possible for the mainstream consumer to log on."

U.S. Internet users spent nearly ten hours a month online, an increase of 26 percent over the past year. Page views have doubled over the past year from 353 to 709 page views per month (see Table 1). Unique sites, however, have declined from 12 unique sites visited in July 1999 to 10 unique sites visited in July 2000.

"While Web usage has increased, the number of sites people visit has dropped in the past year. This means that the barrier to entry is higher for new Internet ventures as companies vie for surfers' attention," said Kaldor. "This underscores the power of branding online, as companies like Amazon.com have effectively leveraged their brand to amass a captive and loyal audience."

Nielsen//NetRatings Average Usage July 1999-July 2000 (Home)

            Page Views  Number of  Time Spent   Current
            Per Month   Unique     per Month    Internet
                        Sites    (hrs:min:sec)  Universe
                        Visited                 Estimate
July 2000      709        10      9: 40: 53    143,958,588

June 2000      664        10      9: 04: 29    136,992,395

May 2000       662        10      9: 05: 24    134,209,269

April 2000     671        11      9: 26: 23    130,224,501

March 2000     670        10      9: 42: 57    129,661,799

February 2000  628        10      9: 19: 20    122,951,350

January 2000   629        10      9: 24: 59    122,700,708

December 1999  548         9      8: 17: 09    119,186,327

November 1999  521        10      8: 06: 59    118,362,861

October 1999   524        11      8: 12: 37    113,004,380

September 1999 409        11      7: 30: 51    109,993,829

August 1999    351        11      7: 48: 53    108,588,708

July 1999      353        12      7: 39: 00    106,370,122