Indian men outnumber women in net surfing

New Delhi, June 28 (UNI) The number of women online users in India has crossed the 12 million mark but they continue to be substantially outnumbered by their male counterparts with 26 million of them clicking the mouse to browse a plethora of web sites.

Since 2004-05, the percentage of online users in India has increased by 54 per cent to 38.5 million: male online users increased in absolute numbers but clipped from 72 per cent in 2004-05 to 68 per cent in 2005-06. On the other hand, the number of Internet-savvy women increased to 12.32 million, from 28 per cent in 2004-05 to 32 per cent in 2005-06.

''The estimate for the male-female ratio in the next two years is that it will be closer to 60:40 ratio but will still result in the absolute numbers of men being higher than women,'' says a new report of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

With India's Internet population poised to reach 100 million by 2007-08, the online male-female ratio is estimated to change to 60:40 by 2007-08 from the current 68:32, it points out.

The objective of the research, undertaken by the IAMAI in collaboration with Crosstab Marketing Services, was to ascertain the online gender parity with its primary focus on understanding the female demography and their online activities that would help sellers and advertisers design their products in a better manner.

Commenting on the report, former IAMAI President Preeti Desal said it was critical to understand different online activities of women for their personal requisites or for work-related needs.

''Both Indian men and women value the Internet for its efficiency and its strength as a gateway to inexhaustible reserve of information and experiences and thus have their own interests and reasons to use web sites,'' it says.

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