Data from Internet Activity Index Shows Content on the Rise with Elections, Economic Crisis; Online Commerce at All-Time Low
New York, NY – December 3, 2008 – The Online Publishers Association (OPA) today announced that time spent with online content reached a 2008 high in October, according to the group’s Internet Activity Index (IAI). And while content soared in October, share of time spent with e-commerce hit an all-time low. The exclusive Index, which the OPA launched over four years ago, measures the amount of time consumers spend online each month with commerce, communications, community, content, and search.
Content has consistently led all categories since early 2006, and October’s data marks a new high for 2008*. Over 45% of consumers’ online time in October was spent with content, an increase of 6.1% since the beginning of the year. The jump was driven by consumers’ growing reliance on trusted online media outlets, and in particular, the dramatic news related to the nation’s financial crisis politics.
At the same time, commerce fell to its lowest point since the OPA began tracking time spent online. Consumers spent more time with online trading sites in October, but it was not enough to offset a significant drop in time spent with other online commerce activities. Since the beginning of 2008, time spent with commerce has fallen 20.4%.
“The October Internet Activity Index demonstrates that consuming content is the dominant way people spend time online,” said OPA President Pam Horan. “The economy, the election and other current events have driven even greater interest than usual, as consumers turn to the Internet for vital news and financial information.”
Horan continued, “The new IAI report also reflects the current economic realities, including the decline of offline retail spend. Share of time spent on commerce sites reached the lowest point in the four years since we began assessing this data.”
OPA’s IAI is compiled by Nielsen Online and is available at www.online-publishers.org. The chart below summarizes recent results:
Category
January 2008
October 2008
Change Jan-Oct
Content
42.7%
45.3%
6.1%
Communications
28.7%
28.0%
-2.4%
Commerce
16.1%
12.8%
-20.4%
Community
7.5%
8.7%
16.0%
Search
5.0%
5.2%
4.0%
Community saw a large increase during 2008, due largely to increased use of Facebook, however it continues to account for a relatively small share of consumers’ time spent online.
“ Our goal with the IAI is to provide a reliable, ongoing measure of the time being spent with key online activities,” Horan said. “ Through this data, the IAI offers a unique gauge that helps define engagement and serves as a valuable supplement to other key measures.”
* Because community sites were removed from the content category in January, and a new community category was created, data for the content and community categories cannot be directly compared to pre-January data. However, content maintained its overall lead even after community sites were removed from the category.
About the OPA Internet Activity Index
The OPA’s Internet Activity Index is derived from a categorization of Web properties accounting for more than 90%, on average, of active Web users and approximately 55% of total usage time (excludes .gov and .edu Web sites, as well as pornographic domains). The IAI is compiled by Nielsen Online and is posted online each month. A full description of the IAI and its methodology is available at www.online-publishers.org.
About the OPA
Founded in June 2001, the Online Publishers Association is an industry trade organization whose mission is to advance the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public. Members of OPA represent the standards in Internet publishing with respect to editorial quality and integrity, credibility and accountability. OPA member sites have a combined, unduplicated reach of 149.3 million visitors, or 79% percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (Source: comScore Media Metrix, August 2008 combined home/work/university data). For more information, go to www.online-publishers.org.
