MUMBAI: Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis has reported that 49.5 million, or 38 per cent of all US home Internet users now connect to the Internet through broadband.

Broadband users grew by 27 per cent, adding more than 10 million to their ranks from May till November 2003. During the same six-month period, narrowband usage remained flat at 69.6 million. Nielsen//NetRatings analysis director Marc Ryan adds, " The increase in broadband connections indicates that users are seeking ways to improve their Internet experience. Moving to a high speed connection opens the door to a number of new content possibilities, driving further evolution of the Internet and facilitating bandwidth-intensive applications like digital music downloading."

The report notes that the increased number of broadband connections is spurring the use of rich media, including on-demand video and flash based content in the realm of advertising. In November 17 per cent of all online advertising impressions were rich media ads. This represented a jump of 10 percentage points from November 2002. Non-rich media ads decreased 10 percentage points from a 93 per cent share in November 2002 to 83 per cent in November 2003.

Ryan says, "Broadband enables both content providers and online advertisers to create more rich media based content. This rich media based content leverages the power of television as a medium and brings it to the Internet, offering Internet users a 'best of both worlds' experience."