Women at work logged onto the Internet 23 percent more this August than they did in August 2001, according to the latest statistics released by Nielson//NetRatings (http://www.nielson-netratings.com). While men still outpace women in Internet usage at work, Internet usage by men at work grew only 12 percent year-to-date. As a whole, the active Internet population at the workplace grew by 17 percent, with an estimated 46 million American office-workers logging onto the Internet during August.

Men log on more than women (an average of 54 sessions compared to 50 sessions), spend more time on average (31 hours versus 27 hours), and view more pages (1900 versus 1700). For both groups, online usage begins at 8 a.m., peaks between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (when usage overall reaches 86 percent), and tapers off around 4 p.m. Typical home usage patterns increase in the afternoon and hit a peak at 8 p.m., accounting for 58 percent of Web usage. "Web marketers are beginning to realize the consumer reach potential at work, as online usage at the office gains traction," said Charles Buchwalter, vice president of client analytics, Nielson//NetRatings.

Statistics for July 2002, the last period reported by Nielson//NetRatings, indicate both male and female workers spend the same amount of time per session as their stay-at-home counterparts, about 30 minutes.

Both at-work and at-home populations also spend just under one minute on any give Web page. However, the number of unique sites visited at work is double (94 versus 47), and the total time spent on the Internet per month is about 28 hours for office workers while usage from home is close to 12 hours. The estimated active Internet universe in the workplace is 42.5 million as compared to almost 104 million at home.