March 18, 2005
U.S. Web Use Growth Slows
The U.S. Internet market is showing signs of having plateaued, at least in terms of usage, with users actually spending less time online than in the past, according to the latest data from Nielsen/NetRatings.
In February, total time spent online declined by 2 percent for U.S. users, while the number of online sessions enacted by users was flat versus the same period as last year.
The figures for time spent online in the U.S. does not appear to correlate with the growth of penetration for broadband users which continues to accelerate, surpassing the 50 percent mark in the past few years.
Yet broadband adoption could actually be lessening the need for users to be online for an extended period of time. Because of high-speed connectivity, "users may be doing more in less time," said Nielsen/NetRatings' senior Internet analyst Kaizad Gotla.
Gotla was not surprised by this data, implying that Internet growth may just be undergoing a natural slow period in its evolution. "I don't think this is shocking," he said "It's very similar to what we have seen over several months."
This pattern of slowed growth is also being witnessed in several other mature Internet markets, such as Germany and Spain, yet these markets are still seeing moderate increases in usage. Interestingly, several other mature markets, such as Hong Kong, France and Australia, exhibited substantial growth in Internet usage and monthly sessions in February. Hong Kong, which boasts of broadband penetration rates in the 90 percent range, saw time spent online soar by 25 percent, and the number of sessions per month make a similar 26 percent leap.
For the U.S. to reproduce such increases, Gotla believes that Web publishers may need to provide users more compelling reasons to enjoy their broadband connections; i.e the content may need to catch up with the technology. "I think that if Internet companies continue to do the things they are doing now, they are only going to drive so much more usage," he said.
