Almost 80 Million Americans Online

More than 79.4 million adults, or 38 percent of the US population age 16 and older, are online according to the latest findings from IntelliQuest Research.

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IntelliQuest also found that 18.8 million people are planning to go online in 1999, meaning nearly 100 million Americans will be wired for 2000.

“We continue to see a growing trend in Internet and online activities,” said Karlan Witt, VP of marketing and brand research at IntelliQuest. “Online users have more than doubled since we started researching this medium more than two years ago, and it is not it is not just the early adopters and techno savvy that are online anymore.”

The latest Intelliquest study found that 36 percent of new Internet users have a bachelor’s degree, down from 46 percent in the second quarter of 1996. Annual household income also decreased, with 55 percent having an income of more than U,000, compared to 60 percent in the second quarter of 1996.

Online shopping remains strong, according to Intelliquest. The study found that 60 percent of users shop online and nearly 20 percent purchase online. Automobiles, computer hardware, and software were the most popular items shopped for online. The most commonly purchased item was books.

IntelliQuest’s data comes from its Worldwide Internet/Online Tracking Service, which generates in-depth profiles of Internet users. It estimates the size of the adult online population within +/- 1.5 percent.