The Web Is Flat: Why Time Spent Online Is Leveling Off

Time spent with the Internet, as it turns out, doesn't balloon indefinitely. That might sound obvious, but this is the year web surfing leveled off at 12 hours a week after growing from less than six hours a week in 2004, according to Forrester's annual survey of more than 40,000 American consumers' self-reported media habits. The report, released Monday, also indicates relative stabilization in other media channels, most notably newspaper and magazine reading. While there are myriad reasons why people's time spent with Internet media stayed flat over the past year -- chief among them is faster broadband speeds and more experience with the web allows people to be more efficient consumers -- the trend has implications for media companies and marketers. Ad Age interviewed Forrester Analyst Jackie Rousseau-Anderson to understand more about why we're seeing the stagnation and its implications for media.