Daily Research News Online no. 2636 - More and More European Kids Online

More and More European Kids Online

September 30 2003

The number of children online in Europe has grown by three million in the last 12 months, according to new research from Nielsen//NetRatings. There are now four million under-12s online, and nine million 12-17 year olds. Growth rates range from nought in Italy, to 58% in the UK.

Britain has more under-18s online than any other European country and has more than twice the overall European growth rate, which is 27%. Younger children - the under-12s - are joining the online community faster than older children in most European countries.

Table 1: Numbers of Children Online (000's)

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings quarter ending Aug 02- quarter ending Aug 03 combined data UK, France, Germany, Italy; at home data Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Netherlands

'As the Internet matures, the demographic profile of users moves closer to the European population as a whole', commented European Market Analyst Tom Ewing, 'and what we're seeing now is families using the Internet more'. Ewing believes this is linked with the growth of broadband access with its lack of per-minute charging.

Several sites have emerged which draw high proportions of their audiences from the under 18s demographic - file-sharing giant KaZaA is a good example. Mobile phone sites and online kids' communities like NeoPets also make attractive targets for advertisers wanting to reach children.

Site	No. Of Under-18s Visiting (000s)	% of Site Audience Under 18	Under 18s Composition Index (100=in proportion to universe)
Neopets.com	200	55.77	377
MiniClip.com	196	38.23	258
eUniverse	244	37.99	257
KaZaA	514	36.21	245
UGO-	383	35.85	242
Gator Network	462	20.36	138
About Network	370	17.04	115
O2	261	16.95	115
Lycos Network	423	16.59	112
Google	1512	15.4	104

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings monthly data for Aug 03

Ewing sees strong potential in site for the younger age groups. 'Currently the majority of sites with a large under-18 audience are aiming at teenagers,but it's the under-12s that are the fastest growing Internet sector, and any sites which they enjoy and which their parents trust are in a position to grow very strongly over the next 12 months'.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.