Nearly three-quarters of U.S. active web users were connected at home via broadband in May, 15 percentage points more than in May 2005, when just 57 percent of active web users used home broadband, reports (pdf) Nielsen/NetRatings. Home broadband users are more likely to be internet early adopters, using RSS feeds and blogging.

The total number of home broadband users has grown 30 percent year over year, from 78.6 million in May 2005 to 102.5 million in May 2006; the number of narrowband users has dropped 31 percent in the same time period, from 58.8 million to 40.3 million. Broadband composition remains high in the workplace, with 90 percent saturation in May 2006; a year ago that figure was 82 percent.

Compared with their narrowband-using counterparts, broadband users are over three times as likely to use RSS as a delivery method for their preferred internet content. They are also more than twice as likely to publish a blog or build a personal web page.

"Although we are not seeing the explosive month-over-month growth we once were, the market for broadband internet connection has not yet reached saturation," said Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen/NetRatings. "We're past the point where decreasing prices and increasing availability will move the needle for providers; the remaining consumers will be pushed to broadband as the internet continues to move beyond text-based information to a comprehensive source for video," he added.