U.S. Internet Population Breaks The 150M Mark.

comScore Media Metrix announced the total number of U.S. Internet users passed the 150 million mark for the first time ever. Further, the total amount of time spent by Americans on the Internet grew by 3 percent in September, although the month of September is one day, or 3 percent, shorter than August. This increase in time spent online was driven almost entirely by the university population returning to campus and their computers.

“In September, a number events impacted Americans’ use of the Internet, including Hurricane Isabel, the kickoff of the NFL season and students returning to school,” said Peter Daboll, president of comScore Media Metrix. “That this medium has now crossed a threshold of 150 million users is a reminder that while it continues to mature, the Web also continues to expand its reach among the total U.S. population every day.”

In September, there were three new entrants to the Top 50 Properties ranking (see table 2). Verisign’s launch of SiteFinder, which redirects mistyped URLs to its site, drove a sharp spike of 540 percent in unique visitors. This increase – the largest of any major property in September – pushed Verisign Sites from a rank of 135 in August to the number 11 position in September. The next largest mover among the Top 50 was NFL Internet Group, which scored a 15-place increase to win a ranking of 34 in September. Emode.com and Columbia House Sites cracked the Top 50 by taking the last two spots in the list, moving up from numbers 51 and 58 in August, respectively.

Top Gaining Properties and Categories

Although with 9.7 million visitors the Retail-Food category had the smallest total audience among the top gaining categories, it posted the biggest increase from August to September, with a surge of 17 percent (see table 3). The top three Retail-Food properties, Cooking.com, OmahaSteaks.com and Schwans.com, all experienced an uptick in visitation driven primarily by increased promotional activity.

Internet users tracking the progress of Hurricane Isabel drove gains in almost every property in the online Weather category, and an increase of 10 percent in visitors to the Weather category overall. And the Department of Commerce, which oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, drew 45 percent more Americans, many of whom sought official government updates on the storm.

The beginning of the National Football League season and Major League Baseball pennant races sent 4.5 million more fans to the Sports category – a gain of 9 percent versus August. ESPN, the largest site in the Sports category, grew 14 percent to 17.6 million unique visitors. And Yahoo! Sports, which is highly popular for news, stats and fantasy league offerings, grew significantly in unique visitors, pages viewed and minutes spent at the site.

Other highlights included 5-percent growth in visitation to the Online Trading category, mirroring a return in trading volume from August lows. Increases at a number of sites contributed to this gain, including ShareBuilder.com, eTrade Financial Network, Schwab.com and TDWaterhouse.com. The Entertainment-Music category also saw a 5-percent increase in audience volume, driven almost entirely by AOL.com Music, which featured content related to the AOL-sponsored Dave Matthews Band benefit concert in New York’s Central Park on September 24.

Many of September’s top gaining properties (see table 4), such as Reference.com, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Family Education Network, surged as both students and their parents turned to the Web for educational and other resources with the start of the school year.

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