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HITWISE UK DEMOGRAPHICS UPDATE
Silver Surfers Favour Google, eBay UK and MSN Hotmail
London, 23rd May 2006, This week, Age Concern is hosting Silver Surfers week in the UK to provide computer and internet training for older people who want to experience the benefits of being digitally connected. Gone are the days when the internet was the domain of the young and the tech-savvy. The latest analysis from Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, reveals that silver surfers are an active group online and are remarkably similar to the online population in the sites they choose to visit.
Hitwise analysis reveals that for the four weeks ending 20th May 2006, 15.7% of visits to all categories of websites were from internet users aged 55+, or silver surfers. Google UK was the website that attracted the largest volume of visits from this age group, followed by MSN Hotmail and eBay UK. The popularity of these brands with silver surfers underscores the acceptance of these internet-only brands among all segments of the UK population.
"The websites that are receiving the highest volume of visits from silver surfers are the same as the websites that are receiving the most traffic overall" said Heather Hopkins, Director of Research for Hitwise UK. "Search engines, email, and portals are the most popular destinations no matter the age group. Comparing the top 10 sites visited by silver surfers with those visited by the 18-24 age group, there was only one difference - MySpace, the popular social networking site".
The Travel - Cruises category attracts the largest percentage of silver surfers. Silver surfers accounted for 38% of visits to Cruises websites in the past four weeks, which is more than twice the average for all categories of websites. The Lifestyle - Families category attracts the second largest percentage of silver surfers with 34% of visits to this category coming from those aged 55+. This category includes genealogy sites popular with silver surfers. The internet sites among the top 100 sites online that attract the largest percentage of visits from silver surfers are Ancestry.co.uk and Genes Reunited, the top two ranked sites in the Lifestyle - Family category.
About Hitwise:
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise measures how more than 25 million internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories.
By measuring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as affiliate programs, search marketing, online advertising, content development and lead generation.
Hitwise collects internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in New York City and operates in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.co.uk
For up to date analysis on online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at weblogs.hitwise.com.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Jannie Cahill
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com
Tel: 020 7378 3619