When the internet first began to take off, it was the U.S. that jumped on board first, with Europe following behind, and even these years later Europe still lags the U.S. by some measures.
In April, the average U.S. user spent about 31.4 hours surfing the web and viewed 2,826 pages, compared to 24.1 hours and 2,662 pages in Europe. Penetration was 66 percent in the U.S. versus 40 percent in Europe.
But Europe is catching up, if slowly. “Europe is closing the gap and is using the web more,” says Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore in London, which compiled the figures. “If you did this (research) two years ago the gap would have been wider,” he adds.
But there are problems drawing much significance from such comparisons. For one, Europe has a larger population, and also a larger internet population: 221.5 million who surf the internet once a month versus 156.7 million in the U.S.
And on a daily basis, Europe is actually ahead of the U.S., with 121.8 million Europeans surfing the internet on an average day in April versus 114.5 million Americans.
But Europe is also really 16 countries, and the data swings wildly from one country to the next, which makes arguments that the U.S. is ahead of Europe—or for that matter that either is ahead of the other--meaningless.
The Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries actually have higher internet penetration than the U.S., the Netherlands at 83 percent and 70 percent for Sweden and Norway, according to the comScore study.
At the low end is Russia, where only 11 percent of the population is online.
Germany has the largest number of unique visitors a month, at 32.6 million. However, it is Britain that has the most active online population, according to comScore.
Britain had Europe’s highest average number of daily visitors at 21.8 million. Plus British users rank top in terms of how many days on average a user visits the internet. In April it was 21. And Britain also ranks No. 1 in Europe in terms of the average amount of time each user spends online each month, at 34.4 hours.
The study also looked at which sites had the most monthly unique visitors in each market. Google turned up tops in 13 of the 16 European countries. Microsoft was No. 2 in most markets, and Yahoo was No. 3 across Europe, even though it only made the top three list in three countries.
In the U.S., Yahoo took the top spot, followed by Time Warner Network and then Google.
Google’s top spot on the list in Europe points to a fundamental difference between the U.S. and Europe. The number of searches per searcher is 50 percent higher in Europe than it is in the U.S., says Ivins.
The reason? When Americans first began flooding to the internet, portals dominated and search didn’t really exist. But by the time Europeans began switching onto the internet, search was at a more developed stage. As such Europeans initially navigated the web more by search – and still do.
Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended May 27, the top five parent companies were Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Time Warner and News Corp. Online for the 17th straight week. The top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, AOL Media Network and Microsoft for the sixth straight week.
Experian was the top advertiser with 5.19 million impressions to No. 2 NexTag’s 3.67 million. With 19.9 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, more than tripling No. 2 MySpace at 5.74 million.
Sessions per person per week were even to last week at 16, with domains visited per person even at 37. Average PC time per person per week was about even at 16 hours and 9 minutes.
|
Top 25 parent companies
Through May 27 |
|
# |
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1
|
Microsoft
|
83,004
|
60.9
|
0:39:04
|
|
2
|
Google
|
80,722
|
59.2
|
0:28:44
|
|
3
|
Yahoo!
|
72,876
|
53.4
|
1:02:09
|
|
4
|
Time Warner
|
67,859
|
49.8
|
1:29:45
|
|
5
|
News Corp. Online
|
40,375
|
29.6
|
0:49:57
|
|
6
|
eBay
|
33,535
|
24.6
|
0:48:14
|
|
7
|
InterActiveCorp
|
27,143
|
19.9
|
0:13:06
|
|
8
|
Walt Disney Internet Group
|
22,586
|
16.6
|
0:18:00
|
|
9
|
Apple Computer
|
22,007
|
16.1
|
0:31:50
|
|
10
|
Amazon
|
21,688
|
15.9
|
0:12:20
|
|
11
|
Landmark Communications
|
20,489
|
15.0
|
0:22:45
|
|
12
|
Wikimedia Foundation
|
20,191
|
14.8
|
0:11:13
|
|
13
|
RealNetworks, Inc.
|
18,698
|
13.7
|
0:17:29
|
|
14
|
New York Times Company
|
17,042
|
12.5
|
0:09:02
|
|
15
|
United Online
|
12,632
|
9.3
|
0:26:03
|
|
16
|
Viacom Digital
|
12,144
|
8.9
|
0:28:30
|
|
17
|
AT&T Inc.
|
12,129
|
8.9
|
0:11:26
|
|
18
|
Bank of America
|
11,987
|
8.8
|
0:22:02
|
|
19
|
CNET Networks
|
10,854
|
8.0
|
0:07:52
|
|
20
|
Comcast Corp.
|
9,942
|
7.3
|
0:33:15
|
|
21
|
General Electric
|
9,894
|
7.3
|
0:09:05
|
|
22
|
E.W. Scripps Company
|
9,655
|
7.1
|
0:06:14
|
|
23
|
Gannett
|
9,393
|
6.9
|
0:09:06
|
|
24
|
Verizon Communications
|
8,939
|
6.6
|
0:16:10
|
|
25
|
Gorilla Nation Media
|
8,670
|
6.4
|
0:06:10
|
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
|
|
Top 25 brands
Through May 27 |
|
|
Parent |
Unique Audience (000) |
Reach % |
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss) |
|
1 |
Google
|
75,614
|
55.4
|
0:22:46
|
|
2 |
Yahoo!
|
72,504
|
53.2
|
1:02:12
|
|
3 |
MSN/Windows Live
|
62,780
|
46.0
|
0:39:25
|
|
4 |
AOL Media Network
|
57,129
|
41.9
|
1:39:21
|
|
5 |
Microsoft
|
53,937
|
39.5
|
0:14:13
|
|
6 |
Fox Interactive Media
|
35,522
|
26.0
|
0:53:26
|
|
7 |
eBay
|
29,294
|
21.5
|
0:48:40
|
|
8 |
Apple
|
22,007
|
16.1
|
0:31:50
|
|
9 |
YouTube
|
21,378
|
15.7
|
0:23:39
|
|
10 |
Wikipedia
|
20,143
|
14.8
|
0:11:09
|
|
11 |
Real Network
|
18,698
|
13.7
|
0:17:29
|
|
12 |
Weather Channel
|
18,198
|
13.3
|
0:24:33
|
|
13 |
Amazon
|
17,289
|
12.7
|
0:11:31
|
|
14 |
Ask Search Network
|
17,064
|
12.5
|
0:14:16
|
|
15 |
CNN Digital Network
|
13,068
|
9.6
|
0:14:34
|
|
16 |
About.com
|
12,127
|
8.9
|
0:03:33
|
|
17 |
Bank of America
|
11,587
|
8.5
|
0:21:33
|
|
18 |
Blogger
|
11,334
|
8.3
|
0:07:46
|
|
19 |
Gorilla Nation Media
|
8,670
|
6.4
|
0:06:10
|
|
20 |
Comcast
|
8,390
|
6.2
|
0:37:58
|
|
21 |
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network
|
8,362
|
6.1
|
0:36:49
|
|
22 |
Facebook
|
8,037
|
5.9
|
0:26:28
|
|
23 |
Chase
|
7,971
|
5.8
|
0:17:58
|
|
24 |
ESPN
|
7,744
|
5.7
|
0:13:07
|
|
25 |
Disney Online
|
7,602
|
5.6
|
0:21:13
|
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
|
Top 25 advertisers
(excludes house ads)
Through May 27 |
|
# |
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Experian Group Limited
|
5,194,950
|
|
2 |
NexTag, Inc.
|
3,667,516
|
|
3 |
Countrywide Financial Corporation
|
3,194,891
|
|
4 |
InterActiveCorp
|
3,148,721
|
|
5 |
Low Rate Source
|
2,702,797
|
|
6 |
Verizon Communications, Inc.
|
1,301,394
|
|
7 |
Yahoo! Inc.
|
1,032,509
|
|
8 |
Reunion.com L.L.C.
|
694,401
|
|
9 |
AT&T Corp.
|
634,082
|
|
10 |
Deutsche Telekom AG
|
623,759
|
|
11 |
Vonage Holdings Corp
|
587,393
|
|
12 |
Bank of America Corporation
|
534,205
|
|
13 |
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
|
511,080
|
|
14 |
Privacy Matters
|
458,389
|
|
15 |
General Motors Corporation
|
443,980
|
|
16 |
Zango, Inc.
|
429,722
|
|
17 |
InPhonic.com
|
426,198
|
|
18 |
Scottrade, Inc.
|
419,361
|
|
19 |
Monster Worldwide, Inc.
|
411,269
|
|
20 |
Echostar Communications Corporation
|
390,764
|
|
21 |
Netflix, Inc.
|
372,542
|
|
22 |
Ringtone Mecca
|
369,387
|
|
23 |
Time Warner Inc.
|
361,594
|
|
24 |
YourDestinyRevealed.com
|
360,664
|
|
25 |
AmeriValue
|
340,452
|
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen//NetRatings 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. Nielsen//NetRatings 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 May 27 |
|
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Yahoo!
|
19,906,496
|
|
2 |
MySpace
|
5,742,642
|
|
3 |
MSN
|
4,884,617
|
|
4 |
eBay
|
1,131,864
|
|
5 |
AOL.com
|
1,094,117
|
|
6 |
The Weather Channel
|
668,509
|
|
7 |
Comcast.net
|
650,659
|
|
8 |
MSNBC
|
563,293
|
|
9 |
Juno
|
527,416
|
|
10 |
NetZero
|
511,054
|
|
11 |
FOXNEWS.COM
|
469,808
|
|
12 |
New York Times
|
424,594
|
|
13 |
CNN
|
377,542
|
|
14 |
YouTube
|
368,744
|
|
15 |
IMDb
|
346,513
|
|
16 |
ABC
|
273,714
|
|
17 |
Realtor.com
|
235,484
|
|
18 |
The Weather Underground
|
231,273
|
|
19 |
Classmates
|
221,651
|
|
20 |
iWon
|
214,394
|
|
21 |
CBS SportsLine
|
211,792
|
|
22 |
ESPN.com
|
210,203
|
|
23 |
Photobucket
|
204,649
|
|
24 |
Excite
|
190,280
|
|
25 |
EarthLink
|
175,833
|
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen//NetRatings 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. Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Average use
Through May 27 |
|
|
Current Week
|
Last Week
|
% Change
|
|
Sessions/Visits per Person
|
16
|
16
|
0
|
|
Domains Visited per Person
|
37
|
37
|
0
|
|
PC Time per Person
|
16:09:09
|
16:05:11
|
0.41
|
|
Active Digital Media Universe
|
136,399,650
|
137,558,786
|
-0.84
|
|
Current Digital Media Universe Estimate
|
212,994,857
|
212,940,156
|
0.03
|
|
Source: Nielsen//Net Ratings AdRelevance |
