Tech Tip: New Home Broadband Statistics

Jul. 15, 2008

Nathan DeSelm
Written by:
Nathan DeSelm

For anyone involved in online marketing or web site strategy, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the most recent statistics regarding broadband penetration and activity online. Knowing these facts can help you make better decisions when you communicate to your online audience. Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center released their 2008 Home Broadband Adoption report and I’d highly recommend downloading the full report. I’ve included some of the findings that I found most interesting below.



Internet Access at Home (all)20072008
Source: Pew Internet Project (2007/2008)
Broadband47%55%
Dial-up15%10%

As the chart above shows, dial-up is becoming less of an issue. For web developers and designers, this gives us more freedom to use larger graphics and more rich content such as video and audio where appropriate.



Home Broadband (by age)20072008
Source: Pew Internet Project (2008)
18-2963%70%
30-4959%69%
50-6440%50%
65+ 15%19%


Home Broadband (by income)20072008
Source: Pew Internet Project (2008)
Under $20K28%25%
$20K -30K 34%42%
$30K -40K 40%49%
$40K -50K 52%60%
$50K -75K 58%67%
$75K -100K70%82%
$100K+ 82%85%

It’s clear from the previous two charts that broadband access varies significantly depending on one’s target audience. However, broadband access is increasing across the board, except for those in the under $20K category where broadband usage has fallen a bit in the past year.



Online Activities% of Internet Users
Source: Pew Internet Project (2008)
Search 89%
Check Weather 88%
Read News 73%
Video (Youtube, etc.) 52%
Job Hunting 47%
Read Blog 33%
Social Network (Myspace, etc.)29%
Download Podcast 19%
Write Blog 12%

As broadband adoption increases, more people are using the Internet for rich content such as online video and podcasts. It’s also important to notice the number of people who are creating online content, either by writing their own blogs or social networking. This has major implications for word-of-mouth advertising since a good (or bad) customer experience can now be shared with hundreds, or even millions, of people online.

Some other interesting facts:

  • 62% of dial-up users are not interested in switching to broadband.
  • 33% of non-Internet users say they are not interested in the Internet.
  • 43% of non-Internet users are over the age of 65 or, put differently, 65% of those over 65 do not use the Internet.
  • 41% of adult Americans have accessed the Internet from someplace other than home or work using a wireless laptop or a handheld device such as a cell phone or PDA.

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