Accurate Stats On Internet/web Use

[webgyrl]

I was wondering if there is a company that keeps accurate figures on how many people in the US/Canada and worldwide use the internet for email, making purchases, surfing, entertainment etc.

 

I have done a few searches using the tems:

How many people use the internet

How many people are online

 

Haven't come up with a firm figure of how many internet users there are and the actual rate of growth of users per day.

 

If anyone knows how I could refine my search to come up with better stats, I'd appreciate it. Or, if you know of a consortium or company that keeps tabs, I'd love to know the link.

 

Thanks,

Nat

[TCH-Thomas]

Not sure about this, so i can only refer to what swedish pc magazines answers when their readers ask...

 

Since no isp etc have a reporting obligation to a "authority" about their surfers habits etc there is no statistics. What we hear or read from those companies that do "estimations" (sorry, dont know the eng word for it) is mostly just estimations.

 

So i think the only way is to rely on sites counters etc.

[ThumpAZ]

Nat,

 

I am afraid Thomas has it pretty well figured out. Due to the privacy concerns of users, and the propensity for companies to estimate (Thomas, "estimations" is correct) or even bloat their numbers in press information, there is no definitive way to truly know the numbers of users in the market areas you are asking about.

 

However, and even with this knowledge, many companies still subscribe to these lists. One of them is www.c-i-a.com/internetuser.htm. Yet, these are expensive!

A good place to look is at the Technology Institutes, as they have a vested interest in knowing where technology is headed... and several of them STARTED the Internet (Not Dan Quayle LOL). Here is a link to a good one: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/proj...o/internet.html

 

Good luck

[Madmanmcp]

Hi Nat, this company was my old companies major competitor and I hate to give business to them . Try Nielsen Ratings. Now they are a business and they may or maynot have what you are looking for, and if they do it may cost way more than you can afford. But its worth a look.

 

http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/

 

And you might be able to find something at my old company, my wife still works there.

 

http://www.arbitron.com

[webgyrl]

Hey guys!

 

Thanks for the info and suggestions. I did try neilsen ratings... but for the life of me I couldn't decipher much. They had some average monthly stats, but not really what I was looking for. As you all stated, gettting stats is very pricey! LOL

 

It is hard to find current info. I guess with all the privacy concerns, specific info is hard to come by.

 

I just wanted to figure out what the rate of internet use growth is and how many people buy online. But the figures are all over the place!

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

This is such a great place

 

Nat

[GroovyFish]

Not sure if you are still looking for this information, but I stumbled across this site today: ht*p://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. I haven't looked at all the data but it says it has "Internet Usage and Population for 233 Countries and Regions of the World" However, it doesn't appear to show HOW people use the internet, just number of users.

 

HTH!

[TCH-Rob]

However, it doesn't appear to show HOW people use the internet, just number of users.

 

We all know how most people use the internet. Ask Dick, he knows all too well.