Number of Web Surfers Up 350,000 Per Month, THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Larisa Naumenko
The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)
05-23-2003
MOSCOW - Russians are flocking to the Web like never before, with more
than 350,000 new surfers venturing into cyberspace each month, according
to a new survey.
The number of adults who have used the Internet at least once in the
last six months has jumped from 8.8 million in September to nearly 12 million
now, according to the author of the survey, Russkiye Fondy, a shareholder
in Rambler Internet Holding.
And Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov
predicted that the number could hit 20 million by 2005.
With roughly 11 percent of the adult population having experienced the
Web, Russia would have ranked No. 22 in the world in terms of Internet
penetration, just above Argentina and Brazil, but behind Spain and Italy,
as of September 2002, according to a Public Opinion Fund survey using the
Nielsen/Net.Ratings method. In absolute numbers, Russia was No. 11 in the
world in September, just ahead of Australia and Spain and just behind Brazil
and Britain.
Russkiye Fondy said that the study released this week was designed so
that advertisers could better gauge the demographics of the country's virtual
community, identifying usage trends by age, gender and region.
"Studying the interests of the Internet audience is an important way
to increase the efficiency of advertising and a significant driver of the
creation and development of new Internet projects," said Yelena Binas,
vice president at Russkiye Fondy.
Men dominate the Russian Internet two to one, according to the survey,
with most male surfers in the 25 to 34 and 20 to 24 age groups, or 23 percent
and 17 percent of the entire audience, respectively. The trend is similar
for women, with female users between the ages of 20 and 24 accounting for
12 percent of total users and those between 25 and 34 accounting for 10
percent.
In terms of how people use the Web, the survey revealed a couple of
general trends, Binas said. The positive is that more people are interested
in family-related issues, such as children and health, while the negative
is the increasing interest in pornographic sites and decreasing interest
in culture, she said.
Surfers from St. Petersburg prefer information on telecommunications,
weather, real estate and personal hobbies, the study said.



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