YupiMsn.com – Turn Off My TV, But Don’t You Dare Touch My Internet.

Up to 20 percent of U.S. Hispanic Internet users would rather give up watching television than searching the Internet, according to new research published by YupiMSN. The research is based on an online poll completed by more than 26,000 YupiMSN consumers. The survey was designed to investigate how and why searching the Net has become such an integral part of Spanish-speakers’ everyday lives.

“We have always known that our consumers are die-hard Web surfers. These individuals have made the Net an indispensable part of their lives — and YupiMSN, their home on the Web,” said Oscar Coën, president of YupiMSN.

Overall, consumers taking the poll rated YupiMSN as their favorite search engine, followed by Google and Altavista.

Dreams and Devastation

Of those polled, the majority (71 percent) of U.S. Hispanic consumers said they are logging on to the Web once a day or more from home. It is clear that searching is very much an everyday activity — so much so that 20 percent surveyed said they have searched the Net in their dreams. According to the survey, approximately 20 percent of those surveyed would feel “devastated” if they were no longer able to search the Web and would much prefer giving up television.

Web Means Love and Friendship

The Web also has a significant impact on family relationships and friendships, with a combined 35 percent of respondents claiming that the Internet has enhanced these rapports. “This is not surprising when we are empowering our consumers with useful communications tools such as the MSN® Hotmail® service, the world’s most popular Web-based e-mail service,** and MSN Messenger Service,” added Coën.

Finding love, fun and friendship are top objectives on the Net according to the research; 42 percent of respondents have found friendship on the Web. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans top the list, with an average of eight buddies found online.

Self-Help

The aspect of consumers’ lives most improved by the use of the Internet is “being informed about current events.” In most markets, entertainment, news and technology are the most searched-for topics. More than 50 percent of the survey takers had searched the Net to find new hobbies and interests.

Carlos Cardona, CTO and founder of YupiMSN, said, “Searching the Net is now such an integral part of our lives it’s not surprising we’d be lost without it or that we tend to get frustrated when we can’t find what we’re looking for. That’s why we make sure that human editors, not spiders or Web crawlers, manage YupiMSN Search. Our search team works to ensure that the combination of our editorial team’s local knowledge and the power of Microsoft® technology produce the best possible results in Spanish.”