- Four-Year Analysis of Online Publishers Association Internet Activity

Index Shows Sustained Growth for Online Content -

    NEW YORK, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet users are spending nearly
 half their online time visiting content, a 37% increase in share of time
 from four years ago, according to the Online Publishers Association (OPA).
 The OPA today announced a four-year analysis of its Internet Activity Index
 (IAI), a monthly gauge of the time being spent with e-commerce,
 communications, content and search.
     "When the OPA created the IAI, our goal was to provide a reliable,
 ongoing measure of the time being spent with key online activities," said
 OPA president Pam Horan. "For the last four years, the IAI has identified
 important trends in Web use and added to our understanding of consumer
 engagement online. As seen by Nielsen//NetRatings' recent introduction of
 the 'Total Minutes' metric, time spent helps to define engagement and
 serves as a valuable supplement to other key measures."
     According to the OPA's IAI, conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings,
 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, compared with 34% four years ago. The 37% gain
 in share for content is followed closely by a 35% gain in share for search.
 However the total time being spent with search remains relatively low,
 accounting for just 5% of Internet users online time in 2007*.
     "The IAI has identified a very significant and sustained trend in where
 consumers are spending their online time," Horan said. "The index indicates
 that, over the last four years, the primary role of the Internet has
 shifted from communications to content."
     Four Year Summary of OPA Internet Activity Index:
 
                        Share of Time  Share of Time    Share of Time Online
                         Online 2003    Online 2007*       Change 03 - 07
     Content                 34 %            47 %               + 37 %
     Search                   3 %             5 %               + 35 %
     Commerce                16 %            15 %                - 5 %
     Communications          46 %            33 %               - 28 %
     Total                  100 %           100 %                 --
 
     * 2007 includes January through May.
     The increase in content's share of time has been fairly steady in the
 last several years, growing 10% from 2003 to 2004, remaining even between
 2004 and 2005, growing 13% from 2005 to 2006, and growing 13% from 2006 to
 2007.
     Horan continued, "The dominant role of content is driven by several
 important factors. The first is the online transition of traditionally
 offline activities, such as getting news, finding entertainment information
 or checking the weather. Quality content sites see a consistent pattern --
 major news drives traffic spikes, but traffic remains consistently higher
 even after the event. Major news events such as Hurricane Katrina and high
 profile seasonal events such as the NCAA Final Four Basketball tournament
 are clearly driving consumers to engage more deeply with online content."
     Horan continued, "New online features and communities are also leading
 consumers to spend a larger share of their online time with content.
 Consumers spend considerable time with social networking sites, which serve
 not only as places of content but are also increasingly important
 communications vehicles."
     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.
     About the OPA Internet Activity Index
     The OPA's Internet Activity Index is derived from a categorization of
 Web properties accounting for more than 90%, on average, of active Web
 users and approximately 55% of total usage time (excludes .gov and .edu Web
 sites, as well as pornographic domains). The IAI is conducted by
 Nielsen//NetRatings and is posted online each month. A full description of
 the IAI and its methodology is available at
 http://www.online-publishers.org .
     About the OPA
     Founded in June 2001, the Online Publishers Association is an industry
 trade organization whose mission is to advance the interests of
 high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press,
 the government and the public. Members of OPA represent the standards in
 Internet publishing with respect to editorial quality and integrity,
 credibility and accountability. OPA member sites have a combined,
 unduplicated reach of 128.2 million visitors, or 74% percent of the total
 U.S. Internet audience (Source: comScore Media Metrix, July 2006 combined
 home/work/university data). For more information, go to
 http://www.online-publishers.org .
 
 

SOURCE Online Publishers Association