NEW YORK (Nielsen/Netrationgs Website) - Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard in
Internet audience measurement and analysis, today revealed that Web surfers of Hispanic origin are the fastest growing at-home ethnic group on the Web. Nearly 7.6 million Hispanics accessed the
Internet in June, jumping 13 percent year-over-year as compared to 6.7 million the previous year, making Hispanics the third largest ethnic group online (see Table 1).
Web surfers identifying themselves as being Asian or of Pacific Islander descent grew six percent to nearly 2.4 million individuals. More than 94 million Caucasian Web surfers accessed the
Internet during the month, rising four percent year-over-year, while the African American Web population grew three percent to nearly 7.8 million. By comparison, the overall Web population grew three percent, year-over-year to nearly 105 million unique
Internet users this past month. With the exception of the Hispanic group, the market share of the various ethnicities has remained relatively unchanged.
"With the online populations of ethnic Web surfers growing each year, the online landscape is more closely mirroring the offline reality," said T.S. Kelly, director and principal analyst, NetRatings. "This growth reveals an untapped opportunity for businesses to win over these population groups."
Caucasians comprised nearly 90 percent of the online audience at home in June, while African Americans took the spot as the second largest group, accounting for 7.4 percent. Web surfers of Hispanic origin comprised more than seven percent of the total online population while Asian Americans rounded out the list with 2.3 percent.
Table 1. Nielsen//NetRatings Online Population by Race (U.S., Home)
Please view in a fixed-width font such as Courier.
+----------------------+---------------+----------------+-----------+
| Ethnicity | June 2001 | June 2002 | Year Over |
| | Unique | Unique | Year |
| | Audience | Audience | Percent |
| | | | Growth |
+----------------------+---------------+----------------+-----------+
| Hispanic Origin | 6.7 million | 7.6 million | 13% |
| Percent Composition | 6.60% | 7.20% | |
| Asian or Pacific | 2.2 million | 2.4 million | 6% |
| Islander | | | |
| Percent Composition | 2.20% | 2.30% | |
| White (Caucasian) | 90.8 million | 94.0 million | 4% |
| Percent Composition | 89.50% | 89.60% | |
| African American | 7.5 million | 7.8 million | 3% |
| Percent Composition | 7.40% | 7.40% | |
+----------------------+---------------+----------------+-----------+
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, June 2002
Web Surfing by Ethnic Populations Grows
Across the board, Web usage by various ethnic groups grew year-over-year, with Asian Web surfers posting the most aggressive consumption. Asian Web surfers initiated 26 Internet sessions, spending more than 16 hours online in June, recording eight percent and 17 percent growth, respectively (see Table 2).
Asian Web surfers additionally accessed 1,364 Web pages last month, jumping 11 percent.
Caucasian Internet users accessed the Internet 21 times in June, jumping 11 percent as compared to the previous year, and spent more than 11 hours online, posting a 14 percent growth. Surfers of Hispanic origin logged online 18 times during the month, rising six percent year-over-year, and spent more than 10 hours online, jumping 14 percent. African American Web surfers initiated 17 Web sessions and spent nearly 10 hours online, rising 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, from the year prior.
Table 2. Growth of Web Surfing by Ethnic Populations (U.S., Home)
Please view in a fixed-width font such as Courier.
+-------------+----------+----------+---------+----------+----------+-------
--+
| Ethnic | June | June | June | June | June |
June |
| Population | 2001 | 2001 | 2001 | 2002 | 2002 |
2002 |
| | Sessions | Average | Average | Sessions | Average |
Average |
| | | Time | Pages | | Time |
Pages |
| | | Spent | Viewed | | Spent |
Viewed |
+-------------+----------+----------+---------+----------+----------+-------
--+
| Asian or | 24 | 13:55:31 | 1,230 | 26 | 16:21:35 |
1,364 |
| Pacific | | | | | |
|
| Islander | | | | | |
|
| White | 19 | 9:41:24 | 670 | 21 | 11:03:54 |
740 |
| (Caucasian) | | | | | |
|
| Hispanic | 17 | 9:22:22 | 661 | 18 | 10:39:00 |
723 |
| Origin | | | | | |
|
| African | 16 | 9:22:47 | 665 | 17 | 9:48:30 |
600 |
| American | | | | | |
|
+-------------+----------+----------+---------+----------+----------+-------
--+
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, June 2002
Note: Time Spent is represented in hh:mm:ss.
"With online populations of various ethnic groups on the rise, companies and marketers are presented with a growing opportunity to reach these underserved groups through targeted content offerings and smartly placed advertising," Kelly continued.
