Copyright (c) 
America's Seniors/
TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com

Contact us at
America's Seniors/ TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com

Senior Citizens lead Internet growth, 
according to Nielsen//NetRatings; 
Senior women outpace senior men
 in audience and web usage growth

Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reports that senior citizens age 65 and older were the fastest growing age group online, surging 25 percent year over year to 9.6 million Web surfers from home and work in October 2003. Additionally, within the senior citizen age group, Nielsen//NetRatings found that the number of female seniors online jumped 30 percent, while male seniors jumped 20 percent.

Since October 2002, senior citizens online grew from 7.6 million or 5.9 percent of the active Internet universe to 9.6 million surfers aged 65 plus, making up seven percent of the active Internet universe in October 2003 (see Table 1). The second fastest growing age group was Internet users 55-64, which jumped 15 percent from 13.6 million to 15.6 million surfers from home and work. The third fastest growing age group were those aged 18-24, jumping 13 percent from 9.3 million to 10.5 million surfers.

  Table 1:  Nielsen//NetRatings Year-Over-Year
 Audience 
Profile Growth, 
by             Age Group (U.S. Home and Work)
  
  Audience Age
      Group              Oct-02       Oct-03    % Growth
  
  2 - 11                 12,160       12,211        0%
  
  12 - 17                14,016       14,999        7%
  
  18 - 24                 9,300       10,512       13%
  
  25 - 34                20,702       21,380        3%
  
  35 - 49                39,409       39,712        1%
  
  50 - 54                12,078       12,257        1%
 
  55 - 64                13,585       15,632       15%
  
  65+                     7,642        9,554       25%
  
  Source:  Nielsen//NetRatings, November 2003

Nielsen//NetRatings found that in addition to
 outpacing senior  males in audience growth, the  the increase in usage by senior males (see Table 2)
 While male senior usage still dominates, female seniors increased their average Web pages viewed per month by 14 percent, whereas  male seniors increased their pages viewed by five percent. Female seniors increased their average time spent online by 
six percent, spending nearly two more hours online, while male seniors increased their time online by two percent. While the number of sessions for  female seniors increased by two percent, the number  of sessions for male seniors decreased by three percent.

"As a whole, the Internet audience is continuing to become more representative of the general  population," said Greg Bloom, senior Internet analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Thanks to new technologies such as broadband and wireless, the bulk of the Internet's recent growth has been associated to higher levels of activity from experienced web users. 

However, as we continue to track year-over-year trends, we  observe significant upticks in the online presence of important groups such as seniors."

"The overall increase of Web consumption by senior citizens is a great indicator of the growing online market potential with seniors," continued Bloom.

"More than 25 million adults over the age of 55 were online last month. That is clear evidence for advertisers and marketers looking to reach those older adults that the Internet should be part of the marketing mix."