November 25, 2004

Domain names

According to a Nielsen//NetRatings report, children aged 2 to 11 viewed 106% more Web pages on average in October 2004 than two years before in October 2002.

Kids are increasing their Web page consumption at a much quicker rate than the overall online population.

The average Web user viewed 2% more pages in October 2004 than in October 2003, and 15% more than in October 2002.

By contrast, the average child between the ages of 2 to 11 viewed 36% more pages in October 2004 compared with October 2003, and 106% more pages than in October 2002.

Although the number of pages visited grew by a much greater percentage for girls and boys than for the average Web user, the average younger user viewed less than one-third as many pages as an average user of all ages. While kids ages 2 to 11 viewed 264 pages on average in October 2004, the average Web user viewed 911 pages during the same time period.

The fastest growing Web sites in October 2004 among boys ages 2 to 11 tended to be more entertainment oriented, including content sites like DisneyChannel.com, Cartoon Network and Kraft Entertainment, and the RealOne Web site, from which kids can download RealPlayer, used to view or listen to streaming movies and music.

The Web sites with the greatest growth among girls ages 2 to 11 were focused in two areas — real-time communication applications like MSN Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger and cartoon Web sites like Cartoon Network and DisneyChannel.com (the only sites in both lists).

Macromedia, maker of the Flash and Shockwave programs used for many Web games, saw a spike in traffic as well. Like the MSN and AOL sites, Macromedia.com experienced traffic spikes from girls updating their software to the latest version.

The popularity of the IM sites is an indication of the popularity of IM among younger demographics.

A recent AOL study found that 90% of teens and young adults (those ages 20 to 22) use IM, and the findings of Nielsen's report indicate that pre-teens will demonstrate similar levels of IM use once they become teens, if they aren't using the applications to that extent already.

Source: eMarketer