Women pip men on 'time spent' on Google search

Of all age groups, middle-aged women spend most time online, outpacing men aged 35-44 years by 123 per cent.

On Tuesday, on the occasion of International Women's Day, Google announced there was a significant surge in the internet usage by women users in 2015. Also, women users are spending more time on the internet than men, thanks to the success of various initiatives taken to bring more women online.

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"The internet is playing an incredibly important role in changing the lives of women in India. It is great to see how women are taking to the internet in greater numbers and increasing their time spent, even outpacing the time spent by men. This trend is likely to grow as India's vast rural population of more than 800 million comes online and experiences the power of the internet," Google said.

The middle-aged category of women in the age group of 35-44 years saw the highest percentile of growth, on a year-on-year basis, in terms of time spent on Google search. The growth in this age group outnumbered that of middle-aged men by 123 per cent.

Interestingly, the search usage by upper middle-aged women (above 55 years) pipped the younger women user base (15-24 years) and working women (24-35 years) in 2015.

In terms of growth in 'search minutes', women outnumbered men in the younger age-groups too. In the 15-24 age-group, time spent by women grew 110 per cent compared to 104 per cent by men. Meanwhile, in the 25-34 age-group, it grew by 108 per cent compared to 98 per cent by men.

There are more mothers using Google search compared to fathers, revealed the search engine. One in three women who are mothers are on the web, while only one in four fathers are on the web.

Tracing the key interests of women online, it found these women are four times more beauty conscious than men. They also have three times higher interest in fashion.

According to a report by Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB, the online sphere is still dominated by men with women users constituting only 29 per cent of total user base. In rural India, the situation is even more depressing as the female representation is restricted to 12 per cent.