Statistics

Knowledge is power... understanding variables such as viewer expectations and preferences will help you maintain an effective Internet presence.

Browser Trends: Internet Explorer 6 is the most-used browser, XP is the most popular operating system, and most users are now utilizing a monitor display with 800x600 pixels or more, with a color depth of at least 65K colors. Over 72% of browsers are IE6, with an additional 9% using IE5. (June, 2004)

Broadband: The Yankee Group estimates that the current 26.2 million broadband households in the USA (in 2003) will grow to 61.5 million by 2008. Nielsen//NetRatings, the leader in Internet audience measurement, reported that in the U.S. there are 39 million (13 percent) users connecting via broadband, the highest number to date. Broadband users at-home grew 49 percent over last year while narrowband users declined 12 percent. (Reported May, 2003) Despite the higher growth rates for broadband, there are still nearly twice as many narrowband (dial up) users as broadband users in the U.S.

A note about home computer usage and connection speeds: even these statistics reflect ideal lab conditions; actual user conditions vary. For instance, it’s not unusual for a 56K connection to be an actual 44K speed or lower. That’s why designing quickly loading sites is so important. The top reason for people leaving a site is long load times.

Designing entire Flash pages (we’ve all had to wait through the familiar "loading" scenario) will not enhance your image with viewers. An estimated 75% of site visitors skip those "intro" pages entirely.

Internet streaming media is becoming more popular, and estimates nearly double the market for servers capable of delivering video and audio between now and 2005, according to a study by the Cahners In-Stat group.

Census Bureau News: In 2000, more than 4-in-5 households with computers had at least one person using the Internet at home (44 million households.) When the Census Bureau first collected data on Internet use in 1997, fewer than half of the households with computers had someone who was able to go online.

E-mail is the most common Internet application at home, used by 88% of adults and 73% of children who are online.

Technical CEOs push to make broadband a national priority: CEOs are lobbying congress to give broadband the same attention Pres. Eisenhower once gave the interstate highway system. They state that widespread broadband access will sustain U.S. Economic expansion. According to a report prepared by the Computer Systems Policy Project, a Washington-based organization representing high-tech CEOs, 80% of American homes should be able to receive data at 1.5M bit/second. The group has called for 100M bit/sec. National capacity by the end of the decade. (Source: CNN)

Our pick for the best search engine? It’s www.google.com, with concise, on-target search results.