“The higher use of the Internet among those aged 15 to 24 reflects the fact that this age group has grown up online, demonstrating how integral the Internet is to their lives,” said Bob Ivins, EVP and managing director of comScore Europe.

*U.K. population, age 15+, cited from U.S. International Database (http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html)

**Online population indexed to offline population by age group

***Page views and time spent indexed to share of online population

“The fact that teens and young adults in the U.K. over-index in engagement metrics like time spent and page-views is an indication of their comfort with the Internet compared to the average user.  Younger people use the Web for communications, content, community and commerce more than other age segments,” commented Ivins. 

The five most popular sites for the 15 to 24 year age group mirrored those for the general population except for the fifth position where Fox Interactive Media, whose property MySpace boosted it to fifth place over BBC Sites, the fifth-most popular property for the overall U.K. online audience.

The comScore study revealed that many of the sites with particular appeal to the 15 to 24 age segment fall into the Social Networking category, including Facebook.com, Bebo.com and Tagged.com.  Other properties with strong teen and young adult appeal include ARTISTdirect Network and Alloy, which are news and entertainment sites.  

“Web properties with a significant proportion of younger visitors represent an opportunity for advertisers to efficiently reach a younger audience with a targeted message,” stated Ivins.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behaviour, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behaviour and attitudes. comScore analysts apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.