Possibly due to improving spring weather, Americans generally engaged with the internet less in April 2010 than they did in March 2010, according to data from The Nielsen Company.
Americans Use Web Less
The average number of internet sessions per person dropped 1.8%, from 57 to 56, while the average number of domains visited per person declined 6.7%, from 89 to 83.
In addition, the average American viewed 2,545 web pages in April 2010, down 3.8% from 2,646 the previous month. Average PC time per person declined 4.8%, from 60 hours, 25 minutes and seven seconds to 57 hours, 30 minutes and 51 seconds, while average duration of a web page viewed declined 0.9% but remained flat at 56 seconds after rounding.
The active digital media universe shrank 0.1%, from 197.7 million users to 197.6 million users. The current digital media universe estimate stood at 236.2 million users, down 0.3% from 236.8 million users.
Top Parent Companies Lose Time
All of the top 10 parent companies/divisions in April 2010 lost month-over-month average time spent per person, while six lost month-over-month unique audience.
Facebook, which led average time spent per person by a wide margin with six hours, 43 minutes and 22 seconds, lost the smallest percentage of month-over-month average time (0.3%). Yahoo, which had the second-highest average time spent per person with two hours, 24 minutes and 15 seconds, had the second-lowest percentage of month-over-month average time loss (0.4%).
Facebook also had the highest month-over-month unique audience growth, rising 4.5% to 122.3 million users, the fourth-highest unique audience total. News Corp. Online had the second-highest month-over-month unique audience growth, rising 2.6% to 76.9 million users, the sixth-highest unique audience total.
Google had the largest unique audience with 158.5 million users, up 0.5% from March 2010. The average Google user spent one hour, 54 minutes and 57 seconds, down 1.3% from the previous month. Microsoft followed with a unique audience of 135.3 million users, down 1.1% from March 2010. The average Microsoft user spent one hour, 54 minutes and 57 seconds, a 1.6% month-over-month decline.
YouTube Bucks Web Brand Time Trend
Nine of the top 10 web brands in April 2010 lost month-over-month average time spent per person, with the notable exception of YouTube. YouTube reported a 9% jump in average time spent per person on a month-over-month basis, reaching one hour, five minutes and 50 seconds.
Five of the top 10 web brands gained unique audience from March 2010 and five lost unique audience. Number nine Fox Interactive Media gained an impressive 10.2% in month-over-month unique audience, totaling 60.2 million users in April 2010. AOL Media Network, the number seven web brand with 80.1 million users, lost a leading 6% of its March 2010 unique audience.
Google was the leading web brand in terms of unique audience, with 150.1 million users, up 0.6% from March 2010. The average Google user spent one hour, 16 minutes and 14 seconds, down 3.5% from the previous month. Yahoo came in second with 128.4 million users, down 2.2% from March 2010. The average Yahoo user spent two hours, 24 minutes and 29 seconds, a 6.8% monthly drop.
Americans Engage More in March
With growth that may be partially explained by March 2010 having three more days than February 2010, Americans conducted an average of 57 internet sessions during the month, 7.6% more than 53 the previous month, according to previous Nielsen data. The average number of domains visited per person grew 7.2%, from 83 to 89, and the average number of web pages visited per person increased 4.1%, from 2,543 to 2,646.
In addition, the average PC time person increased 5.9%, from 57 hours, two minutes and 38 seconds to 60 hours, 25 minutes and seven seconds. The amount of time users spent viewing the average web page grew 1.2%, from 55 to 56 seconds. The total number of active internet users rose 3.3%, from 191.4 million to 197.7 million.
