Internet users data collected by NetValue examined how Internet users in the US, UK, France, and Germany differ. Users in the US still go online more often and are more likely to have home Internet access, according to the data.
Internet user data released by NetValue found that 48.7 percent of the SU population is connected to the Internet at home, and that the Internet penetration has reached 50.5 million US households.
NetValue also collected data from Internet users in the UK, France, and Germany. The UK has more Internet users than either France or Germany, and male Web surfers in the UK are more likely to visit e-commerce sites than men in Germany, France, or the US, according to NetValue. American women spend more time surfing and visiting e-commerce sites than European women.
The UK leads the way in Europe with more than 6.4 million households connected to the Internet, representing 27 percent of the UK population. Germany comes next with 7.1 million households (20.7 percent), followed by France with almost 3 million households online (12.1 percent). American Internet users go online on average 12 days in each month (covers all Net activities including surfing, email, chat, etc.) Europeans connect less frequently: an average of 9.9 days days per Net surfer in the UK, 9.9 in Germany, and 9.3 in France.
Home Internet connections are a relatively new phenomenon in Europe compared to the US. The percentage of new users in therefore sharply more significant in Europe. Amongst European nations, Germany has the highest percentage of earlier Internet adopters.
Online application and tools such as Internet chat, file, file transfer, audio/video, and news are not being as widely adopted in the US as in Europe. The French are the most enthusiastic Net chatters — 10.2 percent of French Web users visit chat sites as opposed to 5.4 percent in the UK and 4.6 percent in Germany. The British prefer instant messaging — 18.1 percent of UK surfers use it compared to 16.5 percent of Americans, 11.5 percent of Germans, and 11.7 percent of French.
Related tables:
| Length of Time Household Connected | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time Household Connected |
USA | UK | France | Germany |
| 16% | 27.1% | 30.1% | 27.4% | |
| > 6 months | 10% | 18.3% | 17.2% | 13.8% |
| > 1 year | 74% | 54.8% | 52.7% | 58.8% |
| Source: NetValue | ||||
| Internet Use by Gender and Country | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet Usage by Gender (percent) |
US | UK | France | Germany |
| Male | 51.8 | 61.3 | 67.1 | 64.2 |
| Female | 48.2 | 38.7 | 32.9 | 35.8 |
| Days Online per Month | US | UK | France | Germany |
| Male | 11.1 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 10.8 |
| Female | 13.1 | 9.3 | 7.0 | 8.3 |
| Surfers Visiting E-Commerce Sites (percent) |
US | UK | France | Germany |
| Male | 66.9 | 74.6 | 69.8 | 66.5 |
| Female | 78.6 | 63.4 | 54.6 | 48.7 |
| Source: NetValue | ||||
| Surfing Activity Among Internet Users | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | France | Germany | |
| Unique Pages per Visitor per Month |
670 | 374 | 344.5 | 354 |
| Pages displayed | 1,254 | 657 | 625 | 648.1 |
| Number of sessions | 30.6 | 18.5 | 17.3 | 17.3 |
| Duration of session (minutes) |
22 | 16.6 | 16.9 | 16.9 |
| Domains per visitor | 60 | 48.8 | 50 | 49.7 |
| Duration on the Web (hours) |
11.3 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Source: NetValue | ||||
| Internet Activities by Nation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type of Activity | US | Days Connected per Internet User |
| Web | 97.9% | 11.4 |
| Mail* | 37.5% | 8.5 |
| File transfers | 5.7% | 1.3 |
| Audio-video | 4.0% | 1.2 |
| Instant messaging | 16.5% | 1.8 |
| Chat | 1.2% | 1.5 |
| News | 1.3% | 2.1 |
| Games | 0.7% | 1.7 |
| Type of Activity | UK | Days Connected per Internet User |
| Web | 97.2% | 8.9 |
| Mail* | 58.1% | 7.3 |
| File transfers | 18.8% | 2.8 |
| Audio-video | 12.1% | 1.6 |
| Instant messaging | 18.1% | 8.6 |
| Chat | 5.4% | 5.8 |
| News | 8.7% | 6.6 |
| Games | 1.5% | 4.5 |
| Type of Activity | Germany | Days Connected per Internet User |
| Web | 96.2% | 8.9 |
| Mail* | 51.1% | 7.3 |
| File transfers | 22.8% | 2.9 |
| Audio-video | 11.3% | 1.9 |
| Instant messaging | 11.5% | 8.0 |
| Chat | 4.6% | 3.2 |
| News | 5.9% | 6.2 |
| Games | 1.8% | 4.9 |
| Type of Activity | France | Days Connected per Internet User |
| Web | 97.3% | 8.3 |
| Mail* | 64.9% | 6.5 |
| File transfers | 23.0% | 2.6 |
| Audio-video | 12.6% | 1.9 |
| Instant messaging | 11.7% | 8.1 |
| Chat | 10.2% | 3.3 |
| News | 8.0% | 4.2 |
| Games | 1.5% | 2.9 |
| * Data relating to email concerns POP3 and SMTP and not Web-based email Source: NetValue |
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NetValue collects its data via panels implemented and managed by Taylor Nelson Sofres.
