In another Hitwise study it has been revealed that, 15.7% of visits to all categories of websites were from Internet users aged 55+, or "silver surfers".  Linking back to the home page of our newsletter, it really does go to emphasise the importance of this group in planning integrated campaigns, however we must not let this cloud our planning judgement and see everything go online.

Interestingly, Google UK was the website that attracted the largest volume of visits from this age group, followed by MSN Hotmail and eBay UK. 

The websites that are receiving the highest volume of visits from ‘silver surfers’ are the same as the websites that are receiving the most traffic overall. Search engines, email, and portals are the most popular destinations no matter the age group. Comparing the top 10 sites visited by silver surfers with those visited by the 18-24 age groups, there was only one difference – MySpace.

It will only be a matter of time before this generation of over 50’s begin to involve themselves in web 2.0 sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, and will probably lead to the creation of an over 50’s bias web 2.0 site.

The Travel – Cruises category attracts the largest percentage of silver surfers. Silver surfers accounted for 38% of visits to Cruises websites in the past four weeks, which is more than twice the average for all categories of websites.

The Lifestyle – Families category attracts the second largest percentage of silver surfers with 34% of visits to this category coming from those aged 55+. This category includes genealogy sites popular with silver surfers.