Entertainment, Gaming And Video Sites Are Most Popular With Young People

TV broadcasters, such as BBC’s CBBC and the Cartoon Network, have extended to the web and now dominate the top 10 sites with the greatest affinity to children under 12.

However, the fashion community site, Stardoll, ranks number one in the age group, with 32% of UK unique audiences under 12.

Alex Burmaster, internet analyst at Nielsen Online, said: “The internet is very much an entertainment resource for young children, mainly due to how well TV broadcasters such as Nickelodean, Cartoon Network, the BBC and Disney have adapted and extended their traditional offering to the web.”

Online games sites have proved to be the most popular with 12-17 year olds, with websites such as FreeOnlineGames and AddictingGames, dominating the top 10 sites for the teenage sector.

Although mobile phone social networking site Frengo has the highest percentage (26%) of 12-17 year-olds amongst its audience, making it the number one site with that age group.

comScore recently released a study of worldwide usage of social networking sites, indicating that while the growth in new users in North America is beginning to level off, it is burgeoning in other regions around the world (see Social Networking Enjoys Worldwide Growth).

Young adults seem to be most interested in student and video sites, according to the figures released by Nielsen Online.

The top three sites in the 18-22 year-old sector are all student related – the Student Loans Company, UCAS and Student Finance Direct, each with 40% of UK unique audiences between that age gap.

However, sites offering video-related content, such as TV Links and Youku, also feature heavily among the top 10 sites with the greatest affinity with young adults.

Burmaster added: “It’s interesting to see that sites with the heaviest concentration of young adults split into two conflicting groups – functional and entertainment.”