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Information and Research seem to be dominating the Internet users preference to be online, with close to 32 per cent users use the internet for this purpose, according to a recent study by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
With new innovations coming in the content space in the recent years, especially in the form of online ticketing, weblogs, product information and preview sites etc., the year 2006 has seen an impressive 32 per cent of the Active Internet Users having Information as their primary application.
The growth in the number of users accessing Internet primarily for entertainment has also been impressive though its share continues to hover around 8-10 per cent level.
These findings are part of the Internet in India (I-Cube) report released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in association with IMRB, based on a primary survey conducted in early 2006 among 16,500 households covering 65,000 individuals across 26 major metros and small towns in India, with additional coverage of 10,000 business and 250 cyber café owners.
The survey also declared that in September 2006, there were 37 million Internet users in India with 23 million active users. Ever user category is defined as someone who has used the Internet at least once and the active users are the ones who access the Internet at least once a month.
Commenting on the report Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI said: "The growth of information, transaction and entertainment is a sure indicator of the fact that active users are spending quality time on the Internet – this is a positive message to content-based platforms. It is also a clear indication that while communication tools such as email and chat will bring new users to this medium, mature users will look for more and more content and transactions"
The report further states that the online transactional applications (E-Commerce) are steadily gathering steam, across all ages and segments.
Mohan Krishnan, vice president and general manager, IMRB International said: "The growing popularity of applications like P2P, preview sites, streaming video and radio as well with the emergence of localized content will further change the Internet dynamics upstaging traditional applications like email and chat. Hence, in order to sustain the growth of the number of Internet users, the content providers also need to innovate in bringing out applications that make a user's experience simpler and fulfilling."
The report showed significant variations by demographic segments and entertainment seems to be the most preferred choice among the schoolchildren.
While email continues to be the most popular application used across almost all segments, the glamour of chat is fading away, the report says.
© CyberMedia News
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