The internet is now the top source for news
By Heidi Dawley Jan 15, 2008
Young people are increasingly turning to the internet for their campaign news.
That's not a surprise. What is a surprise is just how much.
The number of 18- to 29-year-olds who turn to the web for news of the presidential campaigns has more than doubled as the campaigns have ramped up, according to a quadrennial survey from Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Some 42 percent of this age group said that they regularly learn about the campaign from the internet, up from 20 percent. That topped cable news, the No. 2 source at 35 percent, and local television news with 25 percent.
That's a huge shift, and it becomes even more dramatic when compared to the role of the internet in campaign news for the next-oldest generation, those 30 to 49. Though often called the first internet generation, this demographic relies far less on the web for campaign news.
Only 26 percent told Pew researchers they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet.
“A lot of people who were watching this were expecting the age gap in internet use to decline over time more than it has. In political news it is increasing,” says Carroll Doherty, associate director of Pew Research Center for the People.
Doherty says at least some of the difference is that the under-30 set spends more time on social networking sites, where the campaigns are generating a lot of interest.
The survey, conducted in December, involved interviews with 1,430 adults. It found that people of all ages were getting more news from the internet than during the 2004 election. The percentage who said they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet had nearly doubled, rising to 24 percent from 13 percent in 2004.
As it turns out, among all those interviewed, TV, including local, national and cable news, is still the primary source of campaign news, though it has slipped notably.
In 2004 and 2000, some 68 percent of all ages surveyed said that they got most of their news about the election from the television. Now only 60 percent say they do. In that same time, the internet has risen from 6 percent to 15 percent.
Among the younger set, social networks have surpassed newspapers as a campaign news source. Some 27 percent say they’ve been exposed to campaign news on these sites, as compared to 24 who cited newspapers as a major source of campaign news. Among 30- to 39-year-olds, just 4 percent say they have gotten campaign news or information on social network sites.
Interestingly, the main internet sites people visit for campaign news varied little across the generations. Three web sites dominated across all age groups – MSNBC.com at 26 percent, CNN.com at 23 percent and Yahoo News at 22 percent.
Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended Jan. 6, according to Nielsen Online, Google claimed the top spot among parent companies, followed by Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner and News Corp. Online. The top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, AOL Media Network and Microsoft.
NexTag was the No. 1 advertiser with 7.2 million impressions, followed by No. 2 Experian Group Limited at 5.6 million. With 27.1 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 AOL.com at 1.4 million.
Sessions per person per week were up one from the previous week to 15, and domains visited per person were up two to 37. PC time per person jumped nearly 15 percent compared with the previous week, to 16 hours and 10 minutes.
Top 25 parent companies Through Jan. 6
#
Parent
Unique Audience (000)
Reach %
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
1
Google
85,202
61.1
0:32:12
2
Microsoft
81,534
58.4
0:43:14
3
Yahoo!
75,894
54.4
1:01:58
4
Time Warner
67,108
48.1
1:18:22
5
News Corp. Online
43,230
31.0
0:56:18
6
eBay
33,986
24.4
0:54:51
7
InterActiveCorp
29,233
20.9
0:11:29
8
Amazon
28,282
20.3
0:13:49
9
Apple Computer
25,383
18.2
0:39:52
10
Wikimedia Foundation
22,320
16.0
0:09:18
11
Landmark Communications
20,441
14.7
0:08:55
12
New York Times Company
20,144
14.4
0:10:45
13
Walt Disney Internet Group
19,665
14.1
0:16:58
14
AT&T Inc.
16,766
12.0
0:19:43
15
RealNetworks, Inc.
16,339
11.7
0:15:09
16
E.W. Scripps Company
14,898
10.7
0:07:46
17
Comcast Corp.
12,936
9.3
0:27:31
18
Bank of America
12,608
9.0
0:22:35
19
Verizon Communications
12,569
9.0
0:18:47
20
CNET Networks
12,144
8.7
0:05:58
21
Viacom Digital
11,605
8.3
0:22:58
22
United Online
11,367
8.1
0:30:58
23
Facebook
11,361
8.1
0:29:47
24
Target Corp.
9,727
7.0
0:05:15
25
Gannett
9,691
6.9
0:11:06
Source: Nielsen Online
Top 25 brands Through Jan. 6
Parent
Unique Audience (000)
Reach %
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
1
Google
77,747
55.7
0:23:40
2
Yahoo!
75,310
54.0
1:02:04
3
MSN/Windows Live
58,636
42.0
0:41:55
4
AOL Media Network
54,625
39.1
1:28:05
5
Microsoft
52,711
37.8
0:19:25
6
Fox Interactive Media
37,828
27.1
1:00:29
7
YouTube
30,660
22.0
0:24:44
8
eBay
29,377
21.1
0:56:35
9
Apple
25,383
18.2
0:39:52
10
Amazon
23,664
17.0
0:12:40
11
Wikipedia
22,277
16.0
0:09:16
12
Weather Channel
17,683
12.7
0:09:20
13
Ask Search Network
17,627
12.6
0:13:23
14
Real Network
16,339
11.7
0:15:09
15
CNN Digital Network
14,931
10.7
0:16:48
16
Blogger
14,562
10.4
0:07:07
17
AT&T
12,897
9.2
0:22:36
18
About.com
12,531
9.0
0:03:26
19
Bank of America
12,182
8.7
0:22:51
20
Facebook
11,361
8.1
0:29:47
21
Comcast
9,870
7.1
0:33:58
22
Target
9,590
6.9
0:05:10
23
Chase
9,020
6.5
0:16:26
24
IMDb - Internet Movie Database
8,717
6.3
0:10:25
25
Craigslist
8,654
6.2
0:38:06
Source: Nielsen Online
Top 25 advertisers (excludes house ads)
Through Jan. 6
#
Company
Impressions (000)
1
NexTag, Inc.
7,223,921
2
Experian Group Limited
5,596,690
3
Netflix, Inc.
4,342,143
4
InterActiveCorp
1,460,600
5
Echostar Communications Corporation
1,019,672
6
GiftFreebies.com
916,928
7
Countrywide Financial Corporation
890,546
8
Verizon Communications, Inc.
679,531
9
Hughes Electronics Corporation
634,000
10
General Motors Corporation
610,841
11
Privacy Matters
587,212
12
Blockbuster Inc.
496,503
13
Xadvantage
462,070
14
Scottrade, Inc.
457,555
15
United Online, Inc.
435,737
16
HSBC Holdings plc
435,290
17
Low Rate Source
418,109
18
Low.com
403,092
19
Vonage Holdings Corp
366,966
20
Hydroderm Beverly Hills
347,991
21
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
343,726
22
Pfizer, Inc.
324,691
23
Sears Holdings Corporation
317,222
24
Wachovia Corporation
306,361
25
Microsoft Corporation
293,110
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service.
Top 25 advertising sites (excludes house ads)
Through Jan. 6
Company
Impressions (000)
1
Yahoo!
27,081,933
2
AOL.com
1,381,129
3
MSN
1,297,881
4
MySpace
1,206,448
5
eBay
1,160,635
6
Comcast.net
624,064
7
MSNBC
597,562
8
Facebook
549,052
9
Juno
528,890
10
IMDb
482,644
11
The Weather Channel
438,878
12
FOXNEWS.COM
438,293
13
New York Times
393,366
14
NetZero
335,002
15
Photobucket
295,410
16
NeoPets
270,645
17
Amazon
270,011
18
MyPoints
207,481
19
CNN
203,981
20
Excite
176,561
21
iWon
153,542
22
ESPN.com
145,732
23
Drudge Report
145,630
24
EarthLink
138,427
25
Classmates
127,433
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service.
