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NEW YORK - Internet users spend nearly half their time online viewing news or entertainment content, surpassing activities such as sending emails, shopping or searching for information, according to a study released by the Online Publishers Association.
The four-year study, conducted by Nielsen/NetRatings, tracked a 37 per cent increase in amount of time spent viewing content such as online videos or news, surpassing a 35 per cent rise in using search engines like Google Inc.
The abundance of content and faster online speeds accounted for the spike, the study said. A proliferation of social networks such as News Corps' MySpace and Facebook have helped boost content viewing as well.
Overall, viewing content accounts for 47 per cent of time spent online in 2007, up from 34 per cent in 2003. Web search accounted for 5 per cent of time spent online in 2007 from 3 per cent in 2003.
Time spent on commerce sites such as Amazon.com fell 5 per cent and accounted for 15 per cent of time spent in 2007.
Time spent on communications such as email fell 28 per cent to 33 per cent of time spent online in 2007, down from 46 per cent in 2003.
The popularity of instant messaging such as AOL Instant Messenger, which lets users send quick messages rather than emails, accounted for the drop in the amount of time spent corresponding, the study said.
- REUTERS
