Who's Online?

There is no question that the Internet is now a mainstream medium.

eMarketer estimates the US Internet population will grow to nearly 200 million users this year. By 2013, some 221 million people will be online.

Nearly 65% of Americans use the Internet today, and by 2013 that figure will rise to nearly 70% of the population.

"The US Internet population more closely reflects the general population than ever," says Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, US Internet Users.

"More females are online than males—although males tend to spend more time once they go online," says Ms. Phillips.

In fact, eMarketer projects that females will make up 51.8% of the US Internet population this year, and males 48.2%.

Not unexpectedly, the economy is having an effect on Internet usage.

According to comScore, 18.8 million people conducted online job searches in December 2008, a 51% increase in unique visitors compared with a year earlier.