NEW YORK -- Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, today reports that 49.5 million, or 38 percent of all home Internet users now connect to the Internet via broadband, the highest number to date. Broadband users grew 27 percent, adding more than 10 million to their ranks, during the six month period from May 2003 through November 2003. During the same six month period narrowband usage has remained flat at 69.6 million.

“The number of Americans connecting to the Internet via broadband is growing at an impressive rate.” said Marc Ryan, director of analysis, Nielsen//NetRatings. “The increase in broadband connections indicates users are seeking ways to improve their Internet experience. Moving to a high speed connection opens the door to a number of new content possibilities, driving further evolution of the Internet and facilitating bandwidth-intensive applications like digital music downloading.”

The increased number of broadband connections is spurring the use of rich media, including on-demand video and flash based content, in the realm of advertising. For the month of November 2003, 17 percent of all online advertising impressions were rich media ads, jumping 10 percentage points from November 2002. Non-rich media ads decreased 10 percentage points from a 93 percent share in November 2002 to 83 percent in November 2003.

“Broadband enables both content providers and online advertisers to create more rich media based content,” continued Ryan. “This rich media based content leverages the power television as a medium and brings it to the Internet offering Internet users a 'best of both worlds' experience.”

Nielsen//NetRatings