37 Per Cent of Online Europeans Browse the Net on Multiple Devices

Of the 426.9m Europeans who access the internet every week, 37 per cent now use more than one device to get online, according to findings from the IAB's Mediascope Europe study. For the first time, the study asked its 50,000 interviewees about four devices – computers, mobile, Tablets, and game consoles.

21 per cent of Europeans use the mobile web – a total of 139.2m – and it's especially popular in the UK, Norway and Sweden, each of which sees more than four in 10 people getting online on their mobile.

“It’s no longer appropriate or sensible to think of using the internet as a specific and isolated activity,” says Alison Fennah, Vice President of Research and Marketing for IAB Europe. “The ever-wider variety of devices that people use to access online content, and the degree to which they do this while using other media, shows the deep level of engagement consumers have with the internet today. For instance, many Europeans are clearly using the web and watching TV simultaneously, and a third of those are actually consuming complementary content. Those companies that understand and adapt to these changing consumption patterns will be the ones that succeed in the future.”

The study also shows how time spent online differs from device to device. While the average time spent each week browsing the internet on a computer adds up to 13.3, the average total isn't far behind on mobile, at 9.4 hours, or Tablets, at 9.3 hours.