OPA: Internet shifting from communication to content medium

OPA: Internet shifting from communication to content medium

Content has trumped communication when it comes to how people spend time online, according to a four-year study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA). In 2007, consumers spent 47% of their time online with content on sites designed mainly to provide information, news, or entertainment. Consumers spent only 33% of their time with communications applications, such as Yahoo! Mail or AOL Instant Messenger. That's a dramatic shift from 2003, says OPA, when the ratio was nearly reversed: 34% of time was spent with content and 46% with communications. The rise of online video and search tools that make content easy to find are some of the drivers in the changing role of the Internet from a communications tool to a content tool. Search continues to occupy very little of consumers' time online: 5% in 2007, compared to 3% in 2003.