Sep 15, 2004 10:57 AM, By Patricia Odell

Seniors are an savvy group, with their own legions of trend setters and early adopters who have turned countless friends onto any number of technologies including computers, e-mail and the World Wide Web.

In fact, the number of people ages 55 and up who go online has grown 18% over the last year from 24.5 million to 28.8 million, as they move to catch up with other demographic groups that have grown significantly over the last four or five years.

Notably, the fastest growing senior segment is those ages 65+ who made up 11.1 million in July 2004 compared to 9 million in July 2003, a growth rate of 23% compared to their younger counterparts ages 55 to 64, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Slightly more women (18%) than men (17%) boot up with the ladies looking at about 1 million page views per month versus 1.5 million for men. The amount of time spent online and the number of sessions per month have both dipped slightly, an indication that the group may be getting savvier and more experienced at navigating cyberspace.

Time spent surfing for the 55+ group was 57 hours and 44 minutes in 2004 compared to 58 hours and 22 minutes in 2003. Sessions per month fell to 63 from 64.

It's getting easier and easier for seniors to use the Internet and they find it a great source for banking, product research, healthcare and travel reservations as well as a great tool to communicate with family and friends, says Kaizad Gotla, senior Internet analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings.

America Online is one brand that's making it easy. As part of a broad strategy to regain members after 2.2 million disconnected, AOL is targeting seniors, among several other ethnic groups, with a $299 bundling of a PC, monitor and printer. The service comes basically ready to go with software already loaded and large icons on a simple desktop.

Qnet, an Internet service provider was the most visited site by the senior age group in July 2004. A web site dedicated to supporting American troops, Singingman.us, ranked second, followed by FamilySearch.org. Men's top destination was Medco, a pharmacy benefit manager with the nation's largest mail order pharmacy operation while women's top choice was apparel shopping site Blair.com.

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