Over 50s boost UK online audience

The number of people surfing the net was up 5% year on year in May, with a boost in users aged 50 and over.

The size of the UK internet audience increased from 36.9 million people in May 2009 to 38.8 million people in May 2010, according to new figures from UKOM.

Of the 1.9 million new UK users, one million (53%) of them are at least 50 years old.  Men over 50 were responsible for most of this growth, accounting for 38% of new users, while women made up 15%.

However, women made up a slice of the under 50-year-old increase.  Women aged between 21-34 accounted for 14% of new British internet users, while 12-20 year old girls made up 12% of new users.

Nielsen’s Alex Burmaster said: “The Internet is getting older in more ways than one. Not only is the medium itself maturing but the audience is shifting towards older age groups.

“This growth is a reminder, if one was still needed, that it is very much a form of media utilised by all age groups. The fact that one in four Britons who use the Internet today are 50 to 64 years old proves it is no longer the sole preserve of the young and technical literati.”

People aged 50 or over looked at a variety of websites during this period, including health, video, community, travel, fashion and cooking sites, according to UKOM.

“This age group have a wide appetite when it comes to the types of sites they are using to supplement the interests and needs they have in the daily lives. Consequently, a number of brands across a range of industries, particularly travel, are showing the rest what a valuable medium online is when it comes to reaching a desired audience who haven’t grown up with the Internet,” Burmaster added.

UKOM APS data for over 10,000 sites is available to MediaTel subscribers in the Online database