Pew Internet recently released a report indicating that on any given day, there are approximately 40 million American internet users hanging out on the Web for fun and to pass time. Yes, folks, we are talking about 40 plus trailing 6 zeros.

Wait, there is more good news. The same survey was done in November 2004 and the number stood at 25 million. Now, compare that to the 40 million for December 2005 and you will realise that a 60% jump has happened over a one year duration.

The increase in number of internet users hanging out on the web is largely attributed to higher broadband penetration and larger amount of applications and contents.

Here’s some analysis from Pew Internet:
Gender: Although men and women are equally likely to have tried Web surfing for fun, online men are significantly more likely than women to do this on an average day.

Age: Web surfing is more attractive to younger users. The younger the user, the more likely he or she is to surf for fun, either at all or on a typical day.

Home broadband access: Those who have broadband access at home are significantly more likely than those with dial-up to have surfed the Web for fun, and dramatically more so on a given day.

Reports such as these by Pew Internet helps us as webmasters to understand the trends that is happening in and around the web. Now that we know we have 40 million users available, we should be capitalizing on these facts.

It’s up to individual webmasters how they want to capitalize on this. Enhance your current arcade sites? Develop a brand new site to target these group of visitors? This is the most difficult part; to think of a unique offering that you can provide to 40 million Americans who has no purpose whatsoever on the web except to hang out and pass time.