This Christian Life

One Billion Internet Users

The Internet is growing at an annualized rate of 18% and now has one billion users. A second billion users will follow in the next ten years, bringing a dramatic change in worldwide usability needs.

Some time in 2005, we quietly passed a dramatic milestone in Internet history: the one-billionth user went online. Because we have no central register of Internet users, we don’t know who that user was, or when he or she first logged on. Statistically, we’re likely talking about a 24-year-old woman in Shanghai.

It took 36 years for the Internet to get its first billion users. The second billion will probably be added by 2015; most of these new users will be in Asia. The third billion will be harder, and might not be reached until 2040.

In 2002, NUA estimated that we had 605 million Internet users. Since then, Internet use has grown by 18% per year—certainly not as fast as the 1990s, but still respectable.

Overall, the Internet’s growth has been truly remarkable. Ten years ago, the ‘net was mostly used by geeks; now it’s the default way to do business in many countries. In our U.S. and European B2B studies, many business professionals said they visit a company’s website as the first step in researching potential vendors.

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