Google scans the text of all incoming messages sent to users holding Gmail accounts for advertising purposes. Google claims that it is a fair and necessary tradeoff for the company's free Gmail service.

Google scans the text of all incoming messages sent to users holding Gmail accounts for advertising purposes. Google claims that it is a fair and necessary tradeoff for the company's free Gmail service.

As of October 2009, there are about 200 million free email accounts provided by various groups, of which Yahoo! Mail: 105,458,000, Windows Live Hotmail: 48,962,000, and Gmail: 39,251,000.

Google leads in providing free mapping service, Google Maps: 51,996,000, MapQuest: 39,801,000, and Yahoo! Maps: 10,457,000.

Facebook leads to attract people using its online photo sharing site, Facebook Photos: 44,796,000, Flickr: 24,657,000, Photobucket 22,171,000, and Google Picasa Network: 9,701,000.

Facebook has more than 350 employees. Employee' benefits package sounds pretty sweet: medical, dental and vision health plans with no premiums, 401(k) plan, 4 weeks vacation and 8 company holidays, free catered breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, dry cleaning and laundry services, and a free IBM Thinkpad or Apple MacBook Pro.

4.33 million hours are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide); more than 13 million users update their profile daily.

MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn account for seven of the top 20 most visited Web sites in the world.

Today there are more than 300 social networking sites around the world with 80% of sites having headquarters in the U.S.

MySpace grew at a rate of about 157 member profiles every minute totaling about 82.7 million new profiles a year.

While other social networks have a broader age demographics, member profiles in Bebo and Xanga consist mostly of teens and early 20's.

57% of social network users are female; 35% of all users (male/female) are 18 to 29 years old, 23% of them are students, and 48% are single.

Nearly half of all students under 18 years old who have access to the internet have their own personal profiles on social networking sites.

The number of U.S. consumers who frequent online video sites has climbed 339% since 2003, while time spent on these sites has shot up almost 2,000% over the same period.

In China, surveillance and censorship of the Internet's use are very extensive. The Chinese government has mandated that all computers in the country must have the government screening software installed. Reporters Without Borders lists China as one of 13 "enemies of the Internet"

China has approximate 384 million Internet users (about 30 percent of the population) in January 2010, of which 59 percent of Internet users had home/office access and 41 percent used at 1,100,000 Internet cafes.

43% of China's Internet users contribute to net forums and discussion boards. The most prolific group is young professionals with ages between 25 to 29. 37% of bloggers post daily, and 41 million of users engage in at least 6 activities that connect with 84 people on a weekly basis.

42% of Hispanic Internet users report downloading content compared to 35% of all U.S. adults; 55% of Hispanic users send text messages; 28% send pictures; and 15% downloaded a video game and sent/received email.

In the United States there are about 220 million Internet users (70 percent of its population) in 2009, of which 99 percent of Internet users had home access and 1 percent used Internet cafes.

33% of Americans (all ages) have social networking profiles; 40% of them visit their profiles daily.

About 42 million Americans tune into online radio each week.

Number of years to reach 50 million users - Internet: 5 years, Cable TV: 10 years, TV: 13 years, and Radio: 38 years.

Microsoft Internet Explorer browser continues sliding in popularity (down from 95% to 68% - as of January 2010) while Firefox and Safari have eaten into that share.