One Fourth of Internet Usage at Work is Spent on Personal Tasks

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today’s consumers spend significant time online, with 35.5% of all web users 18 years and older spending three or more hours per day on the Internet, and four out of every ten 18-34 year olds exceeding three hours daily. Interestingly, among web surfers 18 years and older an average of 15 minutes of every online hour is done from the workplace.

“It’s clear from our research that the Internet is an integral part of work time – both for completing job duties, but also to conduct personal activities. That’s not a huge surprise since the lines have been blurred between work and personal time”

Burst Media, a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers, conducted an online survey in November 2007 of 11,510 web users 18 years or older about their Internet browsing habits at work.

One-fifth of respondents state that the workplace is the main locale for where they access the Internet. Men are more likely than women (32.8% vs. 28.4%) to use work as the primary location. The survey also found that higher income households are more likely to say that work is the primary location from where they access the Internet.

Respondents indicate that surfing while on the job is often not work related, with 26.2% of online time at work spent on personal activities. Men spend more online time at work on personal tasks than women (28.0% vs. 24.2%); and the youngest age segment, 18-24 years old, spend 34.4% of online time at work surfing for personal reasons. When asked why they surf the web at work for personal use, respondents most frequently cited the need to stay informed during the day (33.8%). Other reasons were boredom (20.5%), staying in contact with family and friends (18.5%) and convenience (i.e. faster Web connection than home, more accessible computer, convenient time to conduct online services).

The survey also revealed several interesting findings about how consumers’ online habits are impacting behaviors in the workplace. Some of these findings include:

Shopping is the most popular distraction: 51.2% of respondents said that they have shopped online while at work. Men are more likely than women (56.4% vs. 45.5%) to shop online while on the job. Three out of five respondents with household incomes over $100,000 shop online while at work. Activities comprising online shopping time include purchases, researching features, comparing retailers’ prices, finding store locations and searching for last minute deals.
Connecting to the outside world – friends, family, and news – round out remaining personal time: Over half of all respondents regularly send email/IM to a family member or friend while at work. Checking national news was also a common activity (48.6%). Other activities conducted online at work include looking up weather information, conducting online banking, researching travel information, checking sports news/scores, visiting social networking sites and playing online games.
Most employees show little remorse regarding their time spent web surfing on company time: Only one-quarter of employees (28.5%) feel guilty about using the Internet on company time, although women are more inclined to feel guilt than men (31.7% vs. 25.6%). Additionally, very few are worried that “big brother” is watching, with only 30.5% of respondents concerned that their employer might be tracking their Internet usage. The one segment that expressed some concern that their web usage might be tracked by their employer was young men ages 18-24 years. Among this segment, 41% expressed concern that their web surfing at work might be tracked by their employer.

“It’s clear from our research that the Internet is an integral part of work time – both for completing job duties, but also to conduct personal activities. That’s not a huge surprise since the lines have been blurred between work and personal time,” said Jarvis Coffin, CEO of Burst. “The real opportunity is that the Internet allows marketers to reach the workday audience efficiently, surrounded by relevant work or personal content. Add to that our targeting capabilities – such as daypart and day of the week – and you have a powerful medium to reach some pretty attractive audience segments.”

About Burst Media

An online media and technology company founded in 1995, Burst Media (www.burstmedia.com) is a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers. Burst Media levels the playing field for these independent web publishers and enables advertisers to reach finely segmented, engaged consumers as they visit Burst’s extensive number of interest-based sub-channels. Through its Burst Network and Burst Direct offerings, the company represents the broadest and deepest number of interest-based websites online. Burst also markets its ad management platform, AdConductor ™, which empowers content web sites, online ad networks, and web portals to manage the complete process of ad sales and service. Burst Media is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the United States and in London, UK. For more information, visit www.burstmedia.com or call 781.272.5544.