As we follow markets, and budget resources for translation, marketing, content, stats and analytics, traffic and billing decisions and pricing, it’s important to consume and digest whatever data is available – and remember as always, while reviewing any data regardless of the source, it’s important not to take a measure at its face value but keep in mind exactly how it works, exactly what it’s measuring, what its limitations may be, and how it applies to your specific situation, requirements, planning and goals.

In a recent survey by Nielsen Online the total number of active Internet home users increased overall but 2 of the 10 countries tracked.

Active home Internet users declined in the U.K. (-1.14 percent) and in Switzerland (-0.81 percent). Combined, it was a loss of 326,506 active Internet home users – not a big number, especially for a single month, and possibly the result of methodology.

Overall, the number of active Internet homes increased 1.96 percent over the previous month. The countries with the highest increases include Brazil (8.32 percent), Australia (7.28 percent), Japan (2.75 percent), and Italy (2.23 percent).

Nielsen Online uses a sampling methodology applied worldwide, which allows for data aggregation on a regional and global basis. Active Internet users are derived from the number of users who have logged on in the previous 30 days.