The Net by numbers

Abstract

The question 'How big is the Internet?' can be answered in a variety of ways, depending on definitions of what the Internet in fact is, counting of full populations of computers connected to it, and estimating of user populations based on surveyed samples. Some sources of statistical and demo graphic information about the Internet and its users are identified. Data selected for presentation include the number of Internet hosts, World Wide Web servers, and estimates of the Internet's user population. The relatively recent expansion of the commercial Internet is also noted. Along with this commercial expansion have come pressures to interpret the Internet and its user population in terms of its potential as a marketing medium. One of the most recent surveys of Internet demography, by Nielsen Media Research, has attracted some debate about its sampling and definition of Internet users, and suggestions that published results are significantly inflated.