Print this page

Why advertise online?

The numbers

68% of the UK population is now online – that’s 33 million people.

3 in 4 people mainly use the internet at home rather than at work.

The online audience

The internet gender split is fairly close- 58% male, 42% female.

Almost 100% of young people are now online – but that doesn’t mean they’re the only group online. There are now more than 28 million users online who are over 35, and 9 million who are over 55.

This graph shows internet usage defined by age:

The UK is going online for its entertainment needs

- Online is the nation’s second favourite medium after 7pm
- 28 million go online to visit entertainment sites each month
- 30% of the internet population listen to the radio online
- 25% of internet users play games online
- Second Life has 7 million subscribers worldwide

Online shopping is huge!

In 2007, £46bn was spent online - in other words, 15% of all retail spend in the UK was online, with £3.6bn being spent in December alone.

So it should come as no surprise that since 2000 the online shopping market has increased by more than 4,000%.

Sources; NOP IUPS July 2007, Touchpoints 2006, IMRG, Ofcom 2007, Nielsen netratings Dec 07