694 million people online
comScore Networks, a market research firm, says its new estimate is “based on the world’s largest, most representative sample and most robust methodology.” That’s researcher-speak for “We count better than you do!”
The firm uses a panel of people with “active representation from countries that comprise 99 percent of the global Internet population.” The 694 million, age 15 and older represent 14 percent of the world population in that age group (data from March 2006).
Notably, comScore World Metrix includes measurement of the major Asian countries, including China, Japan, India and Korea, which represent nearly 25 percent of the total worldwide online population (or 168.1 million users), and which, in the aggregate, are 11 percent larger than the U.S. (152 million users).
What this leaves out: The total of Internet users in the G8 countries (429 million) roughly equals the rest of the world’s Internet users combined (444 million). This different math comes from ITU’s World Telecommunication Indicators Database (2004).
Talk about a digital divide.
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