Online Nation

2024 Report

Published 28 November 2024

Welsh version available
Contents

Section
1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3
2. Overview................................................................................................................... 4
3. The online landscape ............................................................................................... 10
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 10
Take-up and use............................................................................................................................ 11
Use of internet services – top online companies ......................................................................... 15
Use of internet services – top apps .............................................................................................. 22
4. Online sectors ......................................................................................................... 28
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 28
Search ........................................................................................................................................... 29
Generative artificial intelligence ................................................................................................... 32
Social media .................................................................................................................................. 39
Messaging and calling ................................................................................................................... 45
Dating............................................................................................................................................ 50
Services for pornographic content ............................................................................................... 54
News ............................................................................................................................................. 57
Health and wellbeing .................................................................................................................... 62
Gaming .......................................................................................................................................... 66
Retail ............................................................................................................................................. 73
Cloud storage ................................................................................................................................ 76
5. The online experience ............................................................................................. 80
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 80
The benefits and drawbacks of the internet ................................................................................ 81
Internet users’ encounters with potential harm online ............................................................... 85
Platforms and services where potential harms were encountered ............................................. 96
Internet users’ response following exposure to potential harm ................................................ 102
User attitudes and approaches to staying safe online ............................................................... 107

Annex
A1. Methodology......................................................................................................... 111

2
1. Introduction
Ofcom’s Online Nation report is an annual publication that looks at what people are doing online,
how they are served by online content providers and platforms, and their attitudes to and
experiences of using the internet. There is an accompanying interactive report with additional data
to what is included in this report.
In October 2023 Ofcom became the regulator of online safety in the UK under the Online Safety Act.
Regulated services will have to follow various rules, including protecting users from illegal content
and activity online, as well as protecting children from harmful content and activity online. The
terminology, and the categorisation of the services and potential harms discussed in this report, do
not necessarily align with the Online Safety Act definitions and should not be considered a reflection
of any policy position that Ofcom may adopt.
A range of Ofcom and third-party sources have been used to provide context and information on the
UK’s use of online services and people’s experiences of being online. Two sources played a major
role in the production of this report: Ofcom’s Online Experiences Tracker (OET) 1 and Ipsos iris. 2 The
Online Experiences Tracker (OET) is Ofcom’s biannual quantitative tracking survey that examines
people’s attitudes to and experiences of using online services. Ipsos iris is the UKOM-endorsed
currency for the measurement of online audiences and provides data that is representative of the
UK online adult (18+) population, giving a snapshot of both reach and time spent on websites and
apps, across smartphones, tablets and computers in May 2024. It compares year-on-year trends
since May 2022, and is used to explore monthly trends where notable changes are occurring.

A note on research methodology and terminology regarding ‘potential harms’ used in the report

The OET survey seeks to understand the experiences of encountering potential harms online by UK
internet users aged 13 and over. Not all occurrences of potentially harmful content or behaviour
online result in actual psychological (or financial) harm, so in this report they are referred to as
‘potential harms’.
The data relating to the type and prevalence of potential harm relates to the responses from
internet users encountering a ‘potential harm’ in the four weeks before completing our OET survey;
their ‘most recent encountered potential harm’. Further OET data relating to the location and impact
of, and response to a potential harm, relate to this ‘most recent encountered potential harm’. To
capture these figures, survey participants in the OET are prompted with a list of potential harms, and
their responses are based on their recall and judgement of the content and behaviours which they
consider align with those listed in the questionnaire.
The list of potential harms in the OET questionnaire covers content that is harmful to children, falling
within the scope of the Online Safety Act, and also extends to other types of potentially harmful
content and behaviour, in order to capture a wide range of experiences online. 3

1
The Online Experiences Tracker (OET) is created by Ofcom, run by YouGov on its online panel. More
information and data from each wave can be found here: Experiences of using online services.
2
Ipsos iris measures participants’ online behaviours and activities on their personal devices. For more
information see the Ipsos iris website and the methodology annex below.
3
A full list of potential harms used to prompt participants can be found in the questionnaire.
3
2. Overview
Time spent online
In May 2024, UK adults spent an average of 4 hours 20 minutes a day online, across smartphones,
tablets and computers
Young adults spent the most time online, with 18-24-year-olds spending a daily average of 6 hours 1
minute online, and those aged 65+ spending the least time online (3 hours 10 minutes). Women
spent more time online than men across all adult age groups. The daily average for women was 4
hours 36 minutes, 33 minutes more than men (4 hours 3 minutes). The difference was highest
among ‘Gen Z’ women aged 18-24, who spent more than an hour longer online than their male
counterparts (6 hours 36 minutes vs 5 hours 28 minutes).
Almost half (48%) of the time UK adults spend online is on services owned by Alphabet or Meta
In May 2024, UK adults spent an average of 2 hours 4 minutes a day on services owned by these two
organisations. Alphabet remains the highest reaching organisation visited by almost all online adults
(99%), with 94% visiting YouTube, spending an average of 47 minutes a day on it. Meta was not far
behind as the second highest reaching organisation (96%). In total, 70% (33 million) of UK online
adults visited all top three Meta-owned platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Although
Facebook and Messenger was Meta’s highest-reaching service among adults (at 91%), there is a
notable difference in the time spent on it by adult age groups. Facebook users aged 18-24 are the
least engaged with the service, spending an average of 15 minutes a day on the platform, much
lower than the average time spent by adults overall (39mins).

Online sectors
Social media
Reddit was the fastest-growing large social media platform in the UK, reaching more than half of
UK online adults by June 2024
Reddit experienced a 47% year-on-year increase in reach among UK online adults, rising to 22.9
million (48% UK online adults) by May 2024 (May 2023: 15.6m, 33%), overtaking X (formerly Twitter)
and LinkedIn to become the fifth highest-reaching social media service among adults. This increase
was predominantly driven by young adults, resulting in Reddit appearing in the top ten online
organisations for young online adults for the first time (age 18-24: 71%; age 25-34: 63%). This is a
notable increase since May 2023 (18-24%: 58%, 25-34: 49%). Reddit increased its reach further in
June 2024, reaching 24.6 million (52%) of UK online adults.
A year after its release, Meta’s microblogging service Threads became the 12th highest-reaching
social media service, reaching 5.3 million (11%) UK online adults in July 2024. Although X remains the
highest-reaching microblogging service, its average monthly adult reach continues to decline: from
27.9 million in 2021 to 26.5 million in 2022 and 23.8 million in 2023. The monthly 2024 average up to
August 2024 was 22.2 million, down by a further 1.6 million adult visitors.
18-24-year-old TikTok and Snapchat visitors spent on average about an hour per day on each
service
About three-quarters (74%, 2.0m) of online 18-24-year-olds visited TikTok in May 2024, spending an
average of 64 minutes per day on the service and accounting for 39% of the total time UK adults
4
spent on the service. Women aged 18-24 who visited TikTok spent on average 1 hour 17 minutes on
it, while men spent 35 minutes less on average (48 minutes). Snapchat skews even more heavily
towards young adults, with users aged 18-24 accounting for 64% of the total time spent by UK adults
on Snapchat in May 2024, averaging 55 minutes per day. Two-thirds of the total time spent by UK
adults on Snapchat in May 2024 was by women; women aged 18-24-year who visited Snapchat
spent over an hour (67 minutes) on average on the service per day, while men spent 42 minutes.

Messaging and calling

Forty-three per cent of UK Snapchat messenger users aged 16+ sent a disappearing image or video
on the service in July 2024
An Ofcom survey in July 2024 found that 57% of 16-24-year-olds had sent a disappearing image or
video on Snapchat. WhatsApp and Telegram also offer ‘view once’ or disappearing image/video
functionalities, and these had been used by 9% and 12% of UK internet users aged 16+ respectively.
Ipsos iris data showed that WhatsApp continued to be the highest-reaching messaging service,
reaching 87% of UK online adults in May 2024. Sixty-four per cent of UK online adults accessed
WhatsApp daily, up from 58% in May 2023.

Generative artificial intelligence

ChatGPT was the most popular generative AI tool, with 37% of British online 8-15s and 33% of UK
internet users aged 16+ saying they had used it in the past year
An Ofcom survey conducted in June 2024 revealed that over half (54%) of British online 8-15s and
41% of UK online aged 16+ users said they had used a generative AI tool in the past year. UK online
males aged 16+ were more likely than females to have used a generative AI tool in the past year
(50% vs 33%). Ipsos iris data found that ChatGPT had continued to expand its reach, with 4.2 million
(9%) UK online adults visiting it in May 2024, increasing to 4.4 million (9%) by July 2024. ChatGPT
adult reach was highest among UK online 18-24-year-olds (27%, 1.4m) in May 2024.
Although ‘finding information or content’ is the most popular reason for using a generative AI tool,
only a minority believe the information provided is reliable
The most popular reason for using a generative AI tool in the past year was to find information or
content, reported by 48% of internet users aged 16+ and 31% of British online 8-15-year-olds.
Despite this, only 18% of those aged 16+ said they thought the information from generative AI was
reliable, while a third of 8-15s said they were confident in the information they got from these tools.

Search engines
Search engines are still widely used; 90% of UK online adults visited at least one of the top ten
highest-reaching search engines in May 2024
Google Search remained the highest-reaching search engine, with 83% of UK online adults visiting it
in May 2024, down from 86% in May 2023. Microsoft’s Bing was the next highest-reaching, at 39% in
May 2024, down from 46% in May 2023. Both Google and Microsoft have incorporated generative AI
into their search sites – Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. Fifteen per cent of UK internet users
aged 16+ said they had used Copilot, the second-highest-reaching generative AI tool, in the past
year, while 10% said they had used Google Gemini, which became the fourth-highest-reaching AI
tool only six months after its launch.

Dating
One in ten UK online adults visited a dating service in May 2024, in line with May 2023 (11%),
although there has been a decline in UK adult use of popular dating services
5
Visitors to dating services was highest among 18-24-year-olds (18%) and 25-34-year-olds (17%).
Tinder continued to be the highest reaching, at 1.9 million (4%) UK online adults. However, its reach
had declined by 600k from 2.5 million visitors (5%) the year before. Hinge, the second-highest-
reaching service, reached 1.4 million UK online adults (3%) in May 2024, down 131k from the year
before. While men still outnumbered women on online dating services overall, Hinge was more
popular among women in May 2024.

Pornographic content services

Twenty-nine per cent of UK online adults accessed a pornographic content service in May 2024

Twenty-nine per cent (13.8m) of UK online adults accessed a pornographic content service in May
2024, in line with the previous two years (May 2023: 29%, May 2022: 31%). For the first half of 2024,
the monthly average time spent on pornographic content services by UK adult visitors was 1 hour 33
minutes, an 11% decrease (-11 minutes) compared to the first half of 2023 (monthly average 1 hour
41 minutes). Men remained far more likely to visit a pornographic content service, comprising 72%
of the UK adult audience in May 2024, consistent with the previous year (May 2023: 73%). Pornhub
continued to be the highest-reaching pornographic content service across nations, genders and age
groups, visited by 18% (8.4m) of UK online adults in May 2024.

Retail
Amazon remained the UK’s leading online retailer visited by 35% UK online adults per day in May
2024
Eighty-eight per cent (41.5m) of UK online adults visited Amazon in May 2024, consistent with the
same period in the previous two years (May 2022: 88%, May 2023: 87%). On average, 16.4 million
(35%) UK online adults visited Amazon per day in May 2024. Three quarters of the UK online
population aged 16+ said they had used an online marketplace in Q2 2024. Ebay was the top
reaching online marketplace (57%) followed by 40% saying they used Facebook Marketplace in Q2
2024.

The online experience

Two-thirds (67%) of online adults agree that for them the benefits of being online outweigh the
risks, a decrease from June 2023 (71%) and January 2024 (68%)
Younger adults aged 18-24 (11%) and those in a minority ethnic group (10%) were more likely to
agree that the risks outweighed the benefits of being online. Although more users felt that the
personal benefits of being online were high (67%), fewer felt that the internet was good for society
(40%). Women (34%), white individuals (39%), those in the lower C2DE socio-economic group (36%)
and those with a limiting condition (36%) were less likely than average to feel that the internet was
good for society.
Young adults were less likely than older people to think they had a good balance between their
online and offline lives, and older children were more concerned than younger ones about the
time they spent online
Ofcom’s Media Literacy research found young adults were more likely than older adults to disagree
that they had a good balance between their online and offline lives (21% of 18-24-years vs 7% of
over-54s). A separate Ofcom survey showed that children’s concern about their time spent online
increases with age: 35% of 8-9-year-olds, 46% of 10-12-year-olds, and 51% of 13-15-year-olds
reported concern about the amount of time they spent on at least one service type. Children were
worried about the mental (49%) and physical (46%) health effects of spending too much time online.
6
Misinformation remained the most prevalent potential harm, with 39% of users aged 13+ saying
they had encountered it in June 2024
In June 2024, three in ten UK internet users aged 13+ said they had seen something in the past four
weeks that had made them feel uncomfortable, upset or negative, an increase since June 2023
(27%). Despite the increase, the proportion of users who had encountered at least one of the harms
listed in our OET survey remained the same as in previous years (68%); Younger adults (18-24: 80%
vs 65+: 55%) were more likely than average to have come across potential harms online.
Misinformation was the most prevalent potential harm with 39% of internet users aged 13+ saying
they had encountered it. The types of misinformation that internet users saw fluctuated according
to the topical news and current affairs when the survey was run. Following the announcement of the
UK General Election, on 22 May 2024, there was a small but significant increase in June 2024 of
internet users aged 13+ saying they had encountered political or electoral misinformation (25%), up
from 22% in January 2024. In January 2024, reports of misinformation about conflicts rose
significantly (to 21% from 6% in June 2023), probably linked to the war in Gaza which began in
October 2023. Although these numbers fell in the June 2024 survey, they are still significantly higher
than in June 2023, at 16%.
More online adults are encountering hateful, offensive or discriminatory content
UK adult internet users reporting seeing hateful, offensive or discriminatory content has increased
over the past year, from 23% in June 2023 to 26% in June 2024. The types of hateful online content
reported fluctuates according to the news and current affairs at the time of the survey. In January
2024, reports of content hateful towards people because of their ethnicity or religion rose sharply,
to 36% and 33% respectively, up from 25% and 16% in June 2023. In June 2024 these figures
remained higher than in the previous year, both for ethnicity (33%) and religion (30%).
There were some gender disparities in regard to the types of potential harms that were encountered
online. Men were more likely than women to report that they had encountered misinformation
(41% vs 37%), scams or fraud (36% vs 31%), hateful content (27% vs 24%), fake or deceptive content
(20% vs 16%) and paid for/sponsored content that is not marked as such (19% vs 15%). Women were
more likely than men to report encountering unwelcome friend or follow requests (30% vs 26%),
misogynistic content (23% vs 19%) and body-image-related content (21% vs 13%).
One in five 8-15 year-olds have a user age of at least 18 on a social media platform but there are
indications that there are more frequent efforts from services to verify their date of birth
Ofcom’s user age research, conducted in August 2024, suggests that 22% of 8-17-year-olds (and 20%
of 8-15s) with a social media profile on at least one of the platforms listed in our study, have a user
profile age of at least 18, meaning they are at greater risk of seeing adult content. This has remained
consistent with data from February 2024 and September 2023 (8-17s: 21% and 22%, 8-15s: 20% for
both). Compared to September 2023, children aged 8-17 in August 2024 were more likely to say that
they had been asked to verify their date of birth on their profile (Facebook: 25% vs 10%, Instagram:
18% vs 9%, Snapchat: 14% vs 9%, TikTok: 19% vs 13%, X: 20% vs 10% and YouTube: 14% vs 10%).
Among online teens, generally offensive or ‘bad’ language 4 was the most prevalent potential harm
encountered, although their reported exposure has declined over the past year

4
Although generally offensive or bad language’ is not separately recognised as a harm in the Online Safety Act
2023, this was included as part of a list of potential harms within our OET survey as we wanted to capture the
wider online user experience.
7
Thirty-five per cent of users aged 13-17 said in June 2024 that they had come across generally
offensive or ‘bad’ language online. The proportion of 13-17s encountering this potential harm has
decreased over the past year, with 47% citing this harm in June 2023 and 40% in January 2024.
Teenage boys were more likely to encounter content showing dangerous stunts, while girls were
more likely to encounter potential harms relating to body image
There were gender differences in the prevalence of potential harms that teen users were exposed
to. Teenage boys were more likely than girls to encounter content showing dangerous stunts (29% vs
19%). Encounters with potential online harms relating to body image are more common among girls
than boys; this includes content stigmatising certain body types (25% vs 11%), content promoting
excessive or unhealthy eating/exercise (19% vs 9%), group shaming (19% vs 10%) and content
relating to eating disorders (17% vs 5%). Teen girls were also more likely than boys to say they had
encountered unwelcome friend or follow requests (33% vs 21%) and misogynistic content (23% vs
14%).
Facebook remains the most likely service on which adult users encountered a potential harm
(29%) in the past year, while TikTok (22%) and YouTube (13%) are the services where teen users
were most likely to encounter a potential harm
Social media was the type of service on which users aged 13+ most commonly reported
encountering their most recent potential harm online (56%). Facebook (29%) was the most likely
platform on which adult users encountered potential harms, followed by X (June 2024: 18%, down
from 23% in June 2023). Older adults were significantly more likely to have encountered their most
recent potential harm on Facebook, (55+: 45% vs. 18-24: 8%). Users aged 18-24 were more likely
than older adults to encounter their most recent potential harm on X (23%), Instagram (20%), TikTok
(20%), Snapchat (3%) and Tumblr (1%), and less likely on Facebook (8%).
Children aged 13-17 were significantly more likely than adults to have encountered their most
recent potential harm on TikTok (22% vs 9%), YouTube (13% vs 4%), Snapchat (7% vs 1%) and
WhatsApp (7% vs 2%).
In June 2024, 35% of adults said they had reported or flagged content in response to encountering
a potential harm online in the past four weeks
Thirty-eight per cent of adults who chose to report or flag the content or activity were aware of the
outcome of their report, an increase since the last two waves of the survey (32% in January 2024,
30% in June 2023). Women were more likely to say that they had ‘not heard anything yet’ in
response to their report, compared to men (55% vs 46%). Men were more likely to say they had
received a written response (11% vs 7%) and more likely to say the reported content had been
removed (25% vs 18%).
Satisfaction following reporting potential harmful content has increased, from 31% in June 2023 to
40% in June 2024. There has also been an increase in awareness of the result of reporting content
(e.g. content removal, written response, etc.), from 30% in June 2023 to 38% in June 2024.
Two-fifths of adult users believe the onus is on the website/app (39%) and on search engines
(41%) to keep users safe online
Women were more likely than average to say the onus is on the website or app that hosts user
generated content (40%) and on search engines (45%), while 38% of men said this for both websites
and apps that host user generated content and search engines. Twenty per cent of adult users
thought the onus was on the individual to ensure that what they posted is appropriate for other
users.

8
More online adults in June 2024 than in June 2023 said it was important for sites to monitor and
delete offensive views to protect other users (26%, compared to 24% in June 2023). However, 38%
of online adults agreed that ‘the internet has an important role in supporting free speech’. Men
were more likely to be advocates of free speech: 47% agreed with this statement, compared with
30% of women.
There was an increase in the proportion of online adults who believed that further safety measures
are needed online (44%, compared to 42% in January 2024 and 40% in June 2023). This belief is
especially prevalent among women, people aged 55+ and heterosexuals. In contrast, men, younger
adults and those identifying as LGB+ are more likely to say that the existing safety measures are
sufficient.

9
3. The online landscape
Introduction
This chapter sets out an overview of what people in the UK do online, exploring adults' use of, and
behaviour on, the highest-reaching online services and those where they spend the most time. It is
based mainly on data on UK online adults aged 18+ provided by Ipsos iris, the UKOM-accredited
online audience measurement currency. We use May 2024 as the core reference month.

Key metrics
Figure 1: Average daily time spent online by adults only, by device and age (hours:minutes): May
2024

Source: Average daily time spent online by device - Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May
2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: custom data supplied by Ipsos. Time spent online includes personal use
and in some instances those who also use their device for work. UK home internet access - Ofcom Technology
Tracker 2024. QE1: do you or does anyone in your household have access to the internet at home (via any
device, e.g. PC, mobile phone etc.), and if so, do you personally use the internet at home? Base: all respondents
aged 16+, UK.

10
Take-up and use
UK adults spent an average of 4 hours 20 minutes a day online
in May 2024; women aged 18-24 spent more than an hour
longer online than their male counterparts
Data from Ipsos iris 5 shows that 47.4 million UK adults accessed the internet across smartphones,
tablets and computers in May 2024 (our sample month), spending an average of 4 hours 20 minutes
a day online. Young adults spent the most time online, with 18-24-year-olds spending a daily average
of 6 hours 1 minute online, and those aged 65+ spending the least time online (3 hours 10 minutes).
Adult internet users in Scotland (4 hours 44 minutes) and Wales (4 hours 43 minutes) spent the most
time online daily compared to the other UK nations. England and Northern Ireland both had an
average time of 4 hours 16 minutes. 6 7
Women spent more time online than men across all adult age groups. The daily average for women
was 4 hours 36 minutes, 33 minutes more than men (4 hours 3 minutes). The difference in time
spent online was highest among 18-24s, with women of this age spending 21% more time online
than their male counterparts. 8
Figure 2: Average daily time spent online by UK online adults, by age and gender (hours:minutes):
May 2024

Adults Men Women

04:20
18+ 04:03
04:36
06:01
18-24 05:28
06:36
04:51
25-34 04:34
05:09
04:43
35-44 04:21
05:05
04:03
45-54 03:52
04:13
03:47
55-64 03:38
03:57
03:10
65+ 02:55
03:25

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note:
Custom data supplied by Ipsos.

5
See Methodology for details on Ipsos iris.
6
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: Custom
data supplied by Ipsos.
7
Due to a methodology enhancement of the Ipsos iris data set average total time spent data cannot be
compared to previous years.
8
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
11
Three-quarters of the time spent online per day in May 2024 by
UK adults was on smartphones
In May 2024, 75% (3 hours 15 minutes) of the time spent online per day by UK adults, across
smartphones, tablets and computers, was on a smartphone. The average time spent online on
computers and tablets was identical at 32 minutes daily, with older people (65+) tending to spend
more of their time online on tablets, and young people spending relatively more of their time on
computers. The 25-34-year-olds spent the greatest proportion of their time online on smartphones,
at 83%, while those aged 65+ spent the least time online via a smartphone, at 56%. 9
Overall, women tended to spend a slightly higher proportion of their time online on smartphones, at
77%, compared to 73% for men. Among 25-34-year-olds, women spent 87% of their time online on
smartphones, compared to 79% for men. In the 55-64 and 65+ age groups men and women spent
the same proportion (55-64: 70%, 65+: 56%) of their time online on smartphones. 10
Figure 3: Daily time spent online by adults, by device and UK nation (hours:minutes): May 2024

UK 03:15 00:32 00:32 04:20

Scotland 03:29 00:43 00:31 04:44

Wales 03:34 00:37 00:31 04:43

England 03:13 00:30 00:33 04:16

Northern Ireland 03:15 00:38 00:23 04:16

Smartphone Tablet Computer

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note:
Custom data supplied by Ipsos.

One in 20 people do not have access to the internet at home

Five per cent of UK individuals aged 16+ say they do not have access to the internet at home in
2024, 11 down from 7% in 2022 and 2023. Among 16-54-year-olds it is rare to be without home
internet access, ranging between 1-3%, and it is generally the older age groups (55+) that are more

9
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
10
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
11
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QE1. Do you or does anyone in your household have access to the internet
at home (via any device, e.g. PC, mobile phone etc), and if so, do you personally use the internet at home?
Note: 1% of individuals cited ‘don’t know’ as to whether they had internet access at home.
12
likely to be without. 12 Thirteen per cent of those aged 65+ do not have home internet access, down
from 18% in 2023, 13 while a further 2% have access to the internet at home but do not use it. 14
Younger age groups with home internet access are more varied with their means of internet
connection, 8% of 16-24-year-olds access the internet at home only via their mobile phone
connection, twice the overall average, and 86% via fixed broadband. In comparison, 93% of those
who have internet access at home receive their internet via fixed broadband, and 4% of online
households have access to the internet at home only via their mobile network. 15
Figure 4: UK individuals aged 16+, location of internet use

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023 & 2024. QE1. Do you or does anyone in your household have access to
the internet at home (via any device, e.g. PC, mobile phone etc), and if so, do you personally use the internet at
home? QE4: Do you ever access the internet outside your home in and of the following locations. Base: all
respondents aged 16+.

Figure 5: Percentage of UK individuals aged 16+ with access to the internet at home, by year: 2022-
2024
Have access to the Have access and use at Have access but do not
Year
internet at home home use at home
2024 94% 93% 1%

2023 92% 90% 2%

2022 93% 92% 1%

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2022, 2023 & 2024. QE1: do you or does anyone in your household have
access to the internet at home (via any device, e.g. PC, mobile phone etc), and if so, do you personally use the

12
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2022 and Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023. QE1. Do you or does anyone in your
household have access to the internet at home (via any device, e.g. PC, mobile phone etc), and if so, do you
personally use the internet at home?
13
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023. QE1. Do you or does anyone in your household have access to the internet
at home (via any device, e.g. PC, mobile phone etc), and if so, do you personally use the internet at home?
Base: all respondents aged 16+.
14
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024 QE16. Which of these are reasons why you are unlikely to get internet
access at home in the next 12 months? Base: Where unlikely to get internet in next 12 months.
15
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QE7. Which of these methods does your household use to connect to the
internet at home? Base: Where have internet at home.
13
internet at home? Base: all respondents aged 16+. Note: 1% of individuals said they ‘don’t know’ as to whether
they had internet access at home.

Affordability was given as a reason by more than a quarter of

those who do not have internet access at home
Most (82%) of those without internet access at home were unlikely or certain not to get access at
home in the next 12 months; 10% said they were likely and a further 8% responded that they did not
know. Of those aged 65+ without internet access at home, 95% stated they were unlikely to get it in
the next 12 months, with a large proportion (80%) saying this was due to a lack of interest or need,
while 19% say that someone else can go online for them if necessary, and 16% state that internet
use is too complicated. 16
In 2024, more than a quarter (27%) of those aged 16+ without home internet access said they were
unlikely to get it in the next 12 months due to reasons relating to cost (2023: 26%), with 22%
mentioning costs specifically relating to broadband (2023: 23%). Reasons unrelated to cost include
‘someone else can go on the internet for me if necessary’ (17%) and ‘using the internet is too
complicated’ (13%). Four per cent of men and 6% of women said they did not have access to home
internet. Women without internet access at home were more likely than men to have said that
internet use was too complicated (19%) as a reason why they were unlikely to get it. 17
Ofcom estimates that in October 2024 about 1.9 million (+/- 500,000) UK households with fixed
broadband found it difficult to afford their fixed broadband service, and 1.6 million (+/- 400,000) UK
households with a mobile phone had difficulty affording their mobile phone service. This has
decreased compared to figures from October 2023 (2.4 million (+/- 500,000) and 2.4 million (+/-
500,000) respectively). 18
Figure 6: Reasons related to cost for not getting internet access at home in the next 12 months
Working Socio-economic
Age
Reason status group
16+ 16-64 65+ Not working DE

Any reason related to cost 27% 51% 15% 25% 28%

Broadband set-up costs 18% 38% 8% 17% 22%

Monthly cost of fixed broadband 11% 20% 7% 9% 14%

Cost of laptop/desktop or tablet 6% 7% 5% 6% 6%

Cost of mobile phone 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%

Monthly cost of mobile phone service 3% 4% 3% 2% 3%

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024 QE16. Which of these are reasons why you are unlikely to get internet
access at home in the next 12 months? Base: Where unlikely to get internet in next 12 months. Other socio-
economic groups and smaller range age groups cannot be displayed due to low base size.

16
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024 QE16. Which of these are reasons why you are unlikely to get internet
access at home in the next 12 months? Base: Where unlikely to get internet in next 12 months.
17
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024 QE16. Which of these are reasons why you are unlikely to get internet
access at home in the next 12 months? Base: Where unlikely to get internet in next 12 months.
18
Ofcom Affordability Tracker 2024
14
Use of internet services – top online companies
Alphabet- and Meta-owned sites and apps remained the
most-visited in the UK
In keeping with previous years, Alphabet, which owns Google and YouTube, remained the
organisation 19 whose sites and apps are most visited by UK adults, reaching almost all UK online
adults (99%) in May 2024, maintaining the levels seen in 2023 (99%). Meta, the owner of Facebook,
Instagram and WhatsApp, followed close behind, with its sites and apps visited by 96% of UK online
adults (May 2023: 97%). The sites and apps of Amazon, Microsoft and BBC were the third, fourth and
fifth most visited, visited by 90%, 87% and 83% of UK online adults respectively. The top five most-
visited organisations were the same for all UK nations (see Figure 7 below). 20
The BBC was the highest-ranking UK-based organisation, reaching 83% of UK online adults. The BBC
was also the fifth most-visited organisation in England (83%), Scotland (83%), Wales (82%) and
Northern Ireland (86%) in May 2024. The BBC reach was highest among UK online 55-64s (87%) with
its lowest adult audience reach among 25-34s (76%). 21
Coinciding with the announcement of a general election on 22 May, 22and in conjunction with the
record-breaking rainfall between the 21st and 23rd of that month, 23 adult visitors to UK Government
sites (which include the Met Office) increased from an average of 59% in the preceding 12 months 24
to 62% in May 2024. Although UK Government sites relate primarily to central government sites and
services, and exclude the sites of the devolved governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Wales, this group of sites also appears in the top ten for all UK nations except Scotland. 25 Ofcom’s
Technology Tracker found that 67% of UK internet users aged 16+ went online to find information or
to apply for benefits/ tax credits/ other government or charitable support. Seventy-eight per cent
said they used local council/ Government sites. 26

Reddit appeared in the top ten organisations for young adults

for the first time
Reddit appeared in the top ten for young adults (18-24: 71%, 25-34: 63%) but not for those aged
35+; its younger adult audience has increased significantly since May 2023 (18-24: 58%, 25-34: 49%).
In May 2023, X (formerly Twitter) was 18-24-year-olds' tenth-most-visited organisation, reaching
61% of the audience. In May 2024 it had dropped to 12th place, with a reach of 56%. 27 For further
information see Online Sectors - Social Media.

19 ‘Organisations’ are the parent companies of the groups of websites and apps; for instance, Alphabet
organisations include Google Search, Gmail and YouTube; Meta includes Facebook and Messenger, Instagram
and WhatsApp.
20
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
21
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
22
BBC, Rishi Sunak announces UK General Election for Thursday 4 July, 22 May 2024.
23
Met Office, May 2024 Monthly Weather Report.
24
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 – April 2024 average, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
25
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
26
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QE9.4. Finding information or applying for benefits/ tax credits/ other
government or charitable support. QE9.16. Using local council/ Government sites, (e.g. to contact, to find
information, to complete processes such as passport applications). Base: Those aged 16+ who use internet at
home or elsewhere.
27
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+ UK internet users.
15
Bytedance, the owner of TikTok, was the highest-reaching organisation for 18-34-year-olds which did
not appear in the overall top ten (UK online adult reach: 51%, ranked 16th), reaching 75% of 18-24-
year-olds (ranked 6th) and 64% of 25-34-year-olds (ranked 8th). This was an increase from 72% and
57% in May 2023 for 18-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds respectively. The 18-24s were also the
only age group to include Spotify 28 (69%) and Snap (69%) in their top ten, while being the only age
group not to include the news publisher Reach (ranked 13th, 55%). 29
The composition of the top six most-visited organisations were the same for men and women. Also
included in the top ten for both men and women were eBay (men: 63%, ranked 8th, women: 64%,
ranked 9th) and UK Government (men 62%, ranked 9th; women: 63%, ranked 10th). However, there
were two exclusives in the top ten for each gender. Among men, Sky, which includes Sky News, Sky
Sports, Sky Go and Now TV sites and apps, was the seventh-most-visited organisation (67%) and
News UK, which includes sites and apps such as The Sun, The Times and Sunday Times, and
talkSPORT, was tenth (60%). Among women, the online payment service PayPal was the seventh
most-visited (67%), and Apple, which includes apps covering a broad range of sectors and functions
such as news, weather, music, podcasts, streaming and smart home controls, was the eighth-most-
visited organisation (65%). 30

28
Spotify use across smartphone, tablet and computer only.
29
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+ UK internet users.
30
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+ UK internet users.
16
Figure 7: Top ten organisations visited by UK online adults on smartphones, tablets or computers, by nation: May 2024

UK England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland

Rank Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach

1 Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 100%

2 Meta 96% Meta 96% Meta 97% Meta 99% Meta 99%

3 Amazon Inc 90% Amazon Inc 90% Amazon Inc 90% Amazon Inc 92% Amazon Inc 94%

Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft

4 87% 87% 86% 87% 89%
Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation

5 BBC Corporation 83% BBC Corporation 83% BBC Corporation 83% BBC Corporation 82% BBC Corporation 86%

6 Reach Plc 71% Reach Plc 71% Reach Plc 70% Reach Plc 81% Reach Plc 78%

7 eBay Inc 64% eBay Inc 64% Apple Inc 63% UK Government 67% UK Government 68%

8 Apple Inc 63% Apple Inc 64% News UK sites 61% eBay Inc 66% eBay Inc 65%

9 UK Government 62% UK Government 63% eBay Inc 61% Sky 64% News UK sites 64%

Mail Metro
10 PayPal Inc 61% PayPal Inc 62% PayPal Inc 61% News UK sites 63% 64%
Media
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, Ranking report, age: 18+ internet users, UK, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Note: Each organisation has been assigned a colour. ‘UK Government’ sites do not include those of the devolved governments.
Figure 8: Top ten organisations visited by UK online individuals on smartphones, tablets or computers, by age group: May 2024

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Rank Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach Organisation Reach

1 Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99% Alphabet 99%

2 Meta 95% Meta 95% Meta 96% Meta 97% Meta 97% Meta 96%

Microsoft
3 92% Amazon Inc 90% Amazon Inc 91% Amazon Inc 92% Amazon Inc 91% Amazon Inc 89%
Corporation
Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft BBC BBC
4 Amazon Inc 87% 89% 88% 87% 87% 86%
Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation
BBC BBC BBC BBC Microsoft Microsoft
5 80% 76% 82% 85% 86% 80%
Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation Corporation

6 Bytedance Inc 75% UK Government 68% Reach Plc 73% Reach Plc 76% Reach Plc 77% Reach Plc 75%

Mail Metro
7 Reddit Inc 71% Reach Plc 67% eBay Inc 67% eBay Inc 71% eBay Inc 68% 63%
Media

8 Spotify Music 69% Bytedance Inc 64% UK Government 66% PayPal Inc 68% News UK Sites 66% News UK Sites 61%

Mail Metro
9 Snap Inc 69% Apple Inc 64% PayPal Inc 65% Sky 67% 66% NHS Sites 60%
Media
Mail Metro
10 Apple Inc 69% Reddit Inc 63% Apple Inc 65% 66% UK Government 64% eBay Inc 60%
Media
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Ranking report, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: Each organisation has been assigned a colour.
YouTube is the highest reaching Alphabet-owned service, with
Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail also reaching the
majority of UK online adults
YouTube, which encompasses YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids and YouTube Studio, was the
highest reaching (94%, 44.5m) Alphabet-owned service among UK online adults across smartphones,
tablet and computers. This is an increase on its 91% reach in May 2023. The youtube.com website
remained ahead of the YouTube app, reaching 77% of adults compared to 69%. A YouTube adult
visitor spent an average per day of 47 minutes across smartphones, tablets or computers on the
service, in- or out-of-home in May 2024. Women are slightly more likely to visit YouTube (women:
95%, men: 93%); however, male visitors spend longer on the site on average per day (men: 54
minutes, women: 40 minutes). 31 While Ipsos iris measures activity on smartphone, tablet and
computer, Barb measures YouTube video viewing at home including on the TV set, although only
when using the home’s WiFi network for viewing on other devices. In May 2024 Barb data showed
that more than a third (39%) of in-home YouTube viewing over broadband was on TV sets. 32
Google Search remained the second-highest-reaching Alphabet service, visited by 83% of UK online
adults in May 2024. This was followed by Google Maps, which rose from 69% UK online adult reach
in May 2023 to 73% in 2024, primarily via the mobile app, which reached 71% of UK online adults
while the website reached 11%. In comparison, Apple Maps, the second-highest-reaching navigation
service, was visited by 19% (8.9m) of total UK online adults in May 2024, a decline of 6pp (25%,
12.1m) since May 2023. Gmail was the fourth ranked Alphabet-owned service (55%) and remained
the highest-reaching online email service overall, ahead of Microsoft Outlook (50%). 33
Figure 9: Top ten, by UK online adult reach, of Alphabet-owned services: May 2023 and May 2024

YouTube 91%
94%
Google - Search 86%
83%
Google Maps 69%
73%
Gmail 51%
55%
Google Play 42%
43%
Google Drive app 28%
31%
Google Photos app 29%
30%
Google Messages app 22%
27%
Google Calendar app 23%
19%
Phone by Google app 10%
11%

May 2023 May 2024

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Alphabet breakdown, May 2023 & May 2024,
age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: custom defined list by Ofcom, Google Play services app has not been included
as this is a background service and library for use by mobile apps running on the device. Google Search does not
include services Maps, Shopping, Play or News.

31
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
32
Barb as-viewed on TV sets and other devices using the home’s WiFi network. Does not include time spent
when accessed via mobile network internet connection, May 2024, age: 18+, UK.
33
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users, Microsoft
Outlook includes the Outlook app, Outlook Lite app and outlook.live.com website.
19
Seventy per cent of UK online adults visited all top three Meta-
owned platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram
Meta-owned services comprise three main brands: Facebook (inc. Facebook Messenger), WhatsApp
and Instagram. At the forefront of Meta’s services is Facebook / Messenger, with ninety one percent
of UK online adults visiting either of these services in May 2024, consistent with the previous year
(May 2023: 92%). WhatsApp was the next most visited, reaching 87% of UK online adults, a slight
increase on the previous year (85%). Instagram had the biggest increase in reach, up from 73% in
May 2023 to 76% in May 2024. Seventy per cent of UK online adults (33.0m) visited all top three
Meta-owned platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. This was most likely among young
adults, with 81% (4.0m) of 18-24-year-olds visiting all three, as did 55% (4.7m) of online adults aged
65+. 34
In July 2023, Meta launched Threads, a competitor to X, as a sub-brand of Instagram, with users
requiring an Instagram account to sign up. In July 2024 Threads reached 11% (4.3m) of UK online
adults. 35 Other Meta-owned services include Workplace, which reached 1% of UK online adults in
May 2024. 36
Although Meta services’ reach was high to all online users, women (98%) are more likely than men
(94%) to be visitors, and women spend on average 45% longer than men on Meta-owned services
(women: 1 hour 15 minutes, men: 52 minutes) per day. And 95% of online women visited Facebook /
Messenger in May 2024, compared to 87% of men. The biggest gender disparity is seen on
Instagram, with 82% of online women visiting in May 2024 (May 2023: 79%) compared to 70% of
online men. However, male reach has increased by 4 percentage points since May 2023, the largest
increase in reach to either gender for any Meta service (excluding Threads). 37

Figure 10: UK online adult reach for top three Meta-owned services: May 2024

Facebook &
Instagram
Messenger
All three
33.0m
70%
6.5m
14%

1.2m 3%

WhatsApp

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Audience duplication, May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.

34
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
35
May 2024 data was reported as only partial iOS data was collected for Threads.
36
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
37
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
20
Almost half of the time that UK adults spend online is on sites
owned by Alphabet and Meta
Alphabet and Meta remained the two leading organisations in terms of time spent – combined, they
accounted for nearly half (48%, 2 hours 4 minutes) of the average time spent online by UK adults in
May 2024. The next 25% of daily time spent was accounted for by 17 further organisations; ten of
the 25 percentage points went to social media organisations including TikTok-owner Bytedance,
Snap and X. 38
UK online adults spent an average of 1 hour 3 minutes (24.3% of their total online time) with
Alphabet-owned sites and apps each day. Meta services were only marginally behind, with adults
spending on average 1 hour 1 minute per day (23.6% of total online time) on these services. Of the
total average daily minutes (1 hour 3 minutes) spent on Alphabet services on smartphones, tablets
and computers, 44 minutes are spent on YouTube sites and apps (note that this excludes time spent
watching YouTube on television sets which, according to Barb data, accounts for 38% of in-home
viewing over WiFi). 39 Of the time spent on Meta-owned services, 36 minutes are spent on Facebook
/ Messenger, with 13 minutes spent on both WhatsApp and Instagram. Bytedance is the
organisation with the third highest time spent, tracking some way behind, with an average of 13
minutes spent on TikTok per day across all online adults. 40
When looking at time spent by gender, a contrasting picture emerges. Online men spent an average
of 1 hour 9 minutes (28%) on Alphabet-owned services and 49 minutes (20%) on Meta-owned
services, while online women reversed this pattern, spending an average of 1 hour 13 minutes
(27%) on Meta services and 57 minutes (21%) on Alphabet services. Despite these differences, both
men and women spent 48% of their online day on a combination of these services. 41
More than half the average daily time spent was on a diverse range of smaller services. UK online
adults spent on average more than a minute on shopping services Vinted (1 minute 18 seconds),
and WhaleCo-owned Temu (1 minute 10 seconds), with women driving these figures (Vinted: 2
minutes 12 seconds, WhaleCo: 1 minute 34 seconds). Providers of gaming services such as Scopely
(1 minute 24 seconds), Playrix (1 minute 12 seconds), Activision Blizzard (1 minute 12 seconds) and
Roblox (51 seconds) also saw high average time spent per day. 42

38
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
39
Barb, as-viewed data captures YouTube video consumption on TV sets and other devices via the home’s WiFi
network; any viewing outside the home or viewing via mobile networks is not included. Adults 18+, January-
June 2024
40
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
41
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (ORG) Alphabet, (ORG) Meta, May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Note: Custom data supplied by Ipsos.
42
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
21
Figure 11: Share of average time spent online per day by UK adult online population, by
organisation (hours:minutes): May 2024

Alphabet

Meta

Bytedance Inc.
Alphabet
Other 01:03 Microsoft Corporation
01:19 Snap Inc

May 2024: BBC Corporation

Total average daily Amazon, Inc
time spent online
4 hours 20 minutes Apple Inc

X Corp.
00:04 Meta
01:01 Spotify Music
00:04
00:04 Netflix Inc
00:06 00:13
Reddit Inc
00:06
00:07 Other
00:07

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, organisations, time on smartphones, tablets and
computers only, May 2024, age 18+, UK internet users. Other includes organisations with average time of less
than 2 minute. Audio play when Spotify app is closed is not measured, only foreground app use measured.

Use of internet services – top apps

The average number of smartphone apps visited by those aged
25+ increased in May 2024, while the number for 18-24s fell
slightly
UK online adult smartphone users used on average 38 apps on their smartphones in May 2024, up
from 36 in May 2023. All adult age groups saw an increase in the average number of apps used on
smartphones between May 2023 and May 2024 except 18-24-year-olds, who used one fewer app
than the previous year (see Figure 12), and 18-24-year-olds used the fewest apps of any age group
except those aged 55+ – perhaps surprisingly, since the 18-24 age group spent the most time using
smartphones. 43
On average, UK online women used two apps more than men (39 vs 37). Adult android smartphone
and iPhone users, on average, used the same number of apps (38). However, there was a difference
when comparing age groups; 18-24-year-old iPhone users used on average 6 more apps (40) than
18-24s using Android (34). Older adults who used Android used slightly more apps than their iPhone
counterparts. 44

43
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
Note: Custom data supplied by Ipsos.
44
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: Custom
data supplied by Ipsos.
22
Figure 12: Average number of apps visited on smartphones by UK internet users, by demographic
and operating system: May each year 2022-2024

Android or iOS
May 2022 May 2023 May 2024

38 38 37 41 43 41 43 38 41 37 38 39
32 36 33 36 36 33 29 33
36
29 31 35 32
23 27

18+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Men Women

Android by age iOS by age

42 44 41
44
41 40 41 40 42
36 38 38 38 37 36 38 38 40 38 40
33 34 36 34 34 36 36
31 33 32 33 33 31 33
27 29 29
26 26 28
24
21

18+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ 18+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
May 2022 May 2023 May 2024 May 2022 May 2023 May 2024

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, app, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age:
18+, UK internet users. Note: Custom data supplied by Ipsos..

Google Maps joins Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook in the top

three highest-reaching smartphone apps among UK adults
Use of WhatsApp app increased to 91% of UK online adult smartphone users in May 2024, up from
89% in May 2023. The Facebook app reached 82%, stable since the same period in 2023 (81%). 45
Google Maps became the third-highest-reaching smartphone app, visited by 73% of adults, up from
70% the previous year and passing previously third-ranked app Facebook Messenger (now ranked
6th, and reaching 65% of UK adult smartphone users in May 2024, down from 72% in May 2023).
Apple Maps was the second-highest-reaching smartphone navigation app (18%, 8.0m). Other
navigation apps such as Waze (10%), Citymapper (5%) and What3words (5%) reached 10% or less of
UK online smartphone-using adults in May 2024. 46
TikTok remained in the top ten for 18-34-year-olds, but did not move up from its position as tenth
most popular smartphone app, despite its reach increasing from 54% to 60% year on year. Apps
such as Gmail (64%; +4pp year on year) and Amazon (62%; +2pp year on year) also increased their
reach. Instagram leapfrogged both YouTube (80.6%) and Facebook (81.2%) to become the second-
most-visited smartphone app among 18-34-year-olds, with reach up from 78.5% in May 2023 to
81.2% in May 2024. 47
Although the top ten smartphone apps for men and women shared nine of the same apps, TikTok,
which is the 10th highest-ranked app for women (46%), ranked 16th for men (33%) in May 2024. 48

45
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (APP) WhatsApp Messenger, (APP) Facebook, May
2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
46
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
47
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
48
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age 18+, UK internet users.
23
Figure 13: Top ten smartphone apps, UK adult reach, by age and gender: May 2024

Age Gender
18+ 18-34 35-54 55+ Men 18+ Women 18+
Online Online Online Online Online Online
Rank App App App App App App
reach (%) reach (%) reach (%) reach (%) reach (%) reach (%)
1 WhatsApp 91% WhatsApp 92% WhatsApp 90% WhatsApp 91% WhatsApp 88% WhatsApp 94%

2 Facebook 82% Instagram 81% Facebook 85% Facebook 80% Facebook 77% Facebook 88%

Google Google Google Google

3 73% Facebook 81% 74% 70% 73% Instagram 74%
Maps Maps Maps Maps
Facebook Google
4 YouTube 69% YouTube 81% YouTube 72% 63% YouTube 72% 73%
Messenger Maps
Google Facebook
5 Instagram 68% 76% Instagram 71% YouTube 57% Instagram 60% 73%
Maps Messenger
Facebook Facebook
6 65% Gmail 64% 69% Amazon 53% Gmail 58% YouTube 67%
Messenger Messenger
Facebook
7 Amazon 61% 64% Amazon 67% Instagram 52% Amazon 58% Amazon 63%
Messenger

8 Spotify 64% Gmail 55% Gmail 51% Facebook

Gmail 56% 57% Gmail 54%
Messenger
Apple Google Google Apple
9 47% Amazon 62% eBay 51% 46% 47% 50%
Music Play Store Play Store Music
Apple Apple Apple
10 Spotify 44% TikTok 60% 48% 44% 44% TikTok 46%
Music Music Music
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, smartphone app, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: Each organisation has been assigned a colour.

24
Younger adults and more affluent socio-economic groups are
more likely to use Apple smartphones
In 2024, 52% of UK smartphone users aged 16+ said they used an Apple iPhone as their main
smartphone while 47% use an Android smartphone, broadly in line with 2023 (Apple: 51%, Android:
46%). Those aged 16-24 remain most likely to use an iPhone (69%) compared to an Android (31%),
while those aged 65+ are the least likely to have an iPhone as their main smartphone (42%) and are
most likely to have an Android (55%). Apple iPhone ownership skews female, at 55% compared to
male (48%), while Android smartphone reverses this (men 51%, women 44%). Smartphone users in
England (52%) and Scotland (50%) are more likely to use Apple than Android smartphones (England:
47%, Scotland: 48%), while in Wales (51%) and Northern Ireland (51%), users are more likely to use
Android than Apple (Wales: 46%, Northern Ireland: 45%). 49
There is also a correlation between socio-economic group and smartphone OS ownership, with
Apple iPhones more likely to be owned by those in the AB socio-economic group (58%) and less
likely by those in the lower socio-economic DE group (41%), the inverse being true for Android
phones, with DEs (57%) the more likely and ABs (41%) less likely. This may be because of the higher
average price point of Apple phones compared with the broader budget range available for Android
handsets. However, it is important to note that older respondents are more likely to fall within the
lower socio-economic DE group and that age may therefore also be an influential factor here. 50

Figure 14: UK smartphone users aged 16+, share of Apple vs Android operating system: 2024

31%
40% 44% 41%
47% 45% 48%
50% 53% 52% 51%
55% 57%
Android

69% Apple
60% 55% 58%
52% 54% 50%
49% 47% 47% 48%
42% 41%

16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Men Women AB C1 C2 DE

Age group Gender SEG

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QM9. Thinking of your main mobile phone does it use an Apple or an
Android operating system? Base: Where have a smartphone. ‘neither’ or ‘don’t know’ responses not shown on
chart.

49
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QM9. Thinking of your main mobile phone, does it use an Apple or an
Android operating system? Base: Where have a smartphone. 1% responded ‘neither’ and 1% ‘don’t know’.
50
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QM9. Thinking of your main mobile phone, does it use an Apple or an
Android operating system? Responses may not add up to 100% as respondents may have selected ‘neither’ or
‘don’t know’.
25
Alphabet-owned apps account for six of the top ten Android
smartphone apps while only two are in the top ten for Apple
Six of the top ten highest-reaching apps used on Android smartphones in May 2024 are owned by
Alphabet, the owner of the Android operating system (in line with May 2023). On Apple iPhones
two of the top ten are Alphabet-owned: Google Maps at 66% (compared with 81% on Android
phones) and YouTube at 62% (compared with 77% on Android phones). Despite being the native
app on iPhones, Apple Maps is still some way behind Google Maps on iPhones, used by 33% of
iPhone users. Apple Music (85%), the native music app on Apple devices, is used by more iPhone
users than Spotify (50%), while music apps in general rank far lower among Android users, with
Spotify used by 35% and Apple Music by just 1%. Instagram is used by 80% of iPhone users (ranked
4th) but does not appear in Android users’ top ten, reaching 52% and sitting in 12th position. 51

Figure 15: Top ten smartphone apps, Android phones vs iPhones, based on reach as a % of the
total smartphone app universe: May 2024

Android phones iPhones

Google Play Store 95% WhatsApp Messenger 92%

WhatsApp Messenger 88% Facebook 90%

Google Maps 81% Apple Music 85%

YouTube 77% Instagram 80%

Gmail 74% Google Maps 66%

Facebook 72% Facebook Messenger 64%

Facebook Messenger 66% Amazon 62%

Google Messages 61% YouTube 62%

Amazon 58% Apple Weather 56%

Google Photos 53% Spotify 50%

Alphabet Meta Amazon Apple Spotify

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, app only Android vs iOS, smartphone only, May
2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: Apple App Store is not measured by Ipsos iris, Google Play services app
has not been included as this is a background service and library for use by mobile apps running on the device.

51
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
26
Four of the top five smartphone apps with the highest daily
reach are owned by Meta
Meta smartphone apps comprised four of the five apps with highest daily reach among UK online
adults in May 2024 (see Figure 16). The only non-Meta app was Gmail, which was used by an
average of 32% of online adults per day in May 2024, compared with 28% in the same period in
2023, moving ahead of Facebook Messenger (May 2023: 39%, May 2024: 31%). While WhatsApp
was the smartphone app with the highest daily reach among online 18-24-year-olds (3.1m, 63%), the
second-highest-reaching app was Instagram, reaching 60% (3.0 million) followed by Snapchat (2.6m,
53%) in May 2024. The top five smartphone apps were similar among men and women; however,
YouTube (men: 32% and ranked 5th, women: 26% and ranked 7th) displaced Facebook Messenger
(men: 25% and ranked 7th, women: 36% and ranked 4th) in the ranking of apps visited on an average
day. 52

Figure 16: UK online adults’ top five highest-reaching smartphone apps, based on average daily
reach: May 2024

Average daily UK Daily online adult

Year-on-
Smartphone Parent online adult reach audience
Rank year
app company May May
May 2023 May 2024 difference
2023 2024
1 WhatsApp Meta 61% 67% 27.3m 30.2m +2.9m

2 Facebook Meta 50% 57% 22.5m 25.7m +3.2m

3 Instagram Meta 34% 40% 15.4m 18.1m +2.8m

4 Gmail Alphabet 28% 32% 12.6m 14.4m +1.9m

Facebook
5 Meta 39% 31% 17.7m 13.8m -3.9m
Messenger
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, top smartphone apps by average daily reach,
May 2023/May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Due to rounding, difference may appear to be 0.1 million off.
Green boxes indicate year-on-year increase, red boxes decrease.

52
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
27
4. Online sectors
Introduction
This chapter explores internet users’ use of online services in selected sectors: search engines,
generative artificial intelligence (AI), social media, messaging and calling, dating, pornographic
content services, news, gaming, health and wellbeing, retail and cloud storage services.

Key metrics
Figure 17: Top-reaching online services by sector among UK online adults in May each year: 2022-
2024

Sector 2022 2023 2024

Google search Google search Google search
Search
86% 86% 83%
ChatGPT
Generative AI N/A *
9%
Facebook / Facebook / YouTube
Social media Messenger Messenger
94% 92% 94%
WhatsApp WhatsApp WhatsApp
Messaging and calling
84% 85% 87%
Tinder Tinder Tinder
Dating
5% 5% 4%
Services for pornographic PornHub PornHub PornHub
content 17% 18% 18%
BBC BBC BBC
News
75% 70% 75%
NHS NHS NHS
Health and wellbeing
60% 51% 56%
Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga Candy Crush Saga
Games apps
4% 5% 5%
Amazon Amazon Amazon
Retail
88% 87% 88%
Google Drive
Cloud storage (age 16+) * * (June)
39%
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Note: BBC excludes reach via Apple News. Note: *comparable data unavailable. N/A –
ChatGPT launched in November 2022 therefore no data for May 2022. / Cloud storage: Ofcom, Online research
panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024. Question 1: Which, if any, of the
following statements BEST describes when you last used each of the listed cloud storage services? Those who
selected in the past month. Base: UK internet users age: 16+ (2100).

28
 Search
This section explores search services, specifically general search services – defined as services which
aim to index the whole of the open internet. There are two main types of search service:
• General search services, which enable users to search by inputting search queries and
returning results. These services rely solely on their own indexing, and work by using
automated processes designed to find and organise content (known as crawling and
indexing). Algorithms are then used to rank the content based on relevance to the search
query and other factors (ranking). ‘Downstream’ general search services also provide access
to content from across the web, but they obtain their search results from general search
services. 53
• Vertical search services, which enable users to search for specific topics, or products or
services offered by third-party providers; for example, a search engine that only indexes
academic articles from specific websites or databases.
Most search services are free to use. In almost all cases, search services make nearly all their
revenue from advertising via paid search, in which advertisers pay for their adverts to feature more
prominently in the results of searches that contain relevant keywords or phrases. Typically, this is
done through pay-per-click advertising, where advertisers pay when a user clicks one of their ads.
The pricing for key search terms is usually determined by their relevance to the searched terms and
queries, and an auction among advertisers for the respective keywords. Paid search advertising
revenue increased by 12% to £14.7bn in 2023 in the UK, according to IAB UK, and has more than
doubled in size in the last five years (2018: £6.8 bn). 54

Nine in ten UK online adults visited at least one of the top ten
highest-reaching search engines in May 2024
Google 55 remains the highest-reaching search engine, reaching 83% of UK online adults in May 2024,
a 3 percentage point (pp) year-on-year decrease (May 2023: 86%). Just under half (49%) of UK online
adults visited Google search daily in May 2024. With 39% reach, Bing (owned by Microsoft) was the
only other search engine that reached more than 3% of UK online adults. Four search engines had
over a million UK adult visitors in May 2024. 56

53
For more information, see Ofcom’s illegal harms consultation document: Protecting people from illegal
harms online: volume 1.
54
Figure includes revenue from search engines as well as services that operate a paid search advertising
model, for example Amazon and Pinterest. IAB UK, A guide to the State of Search, March 2021.
55
Does not include Google search services - Maps, Shopping, Play or News.
56
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
29
Figure 18: UK online adult reach of top ten search engines and average time spent by visitors: May
2024

KEY: General search service Downstream general search service

Average time
Total Year-
Total adult Total adult Online adult spent in May
adult on-
Rank Search engine Headquarters reach in reach in reach in 2024 per
reach in year
May 2023 May 2024 May 2024 visitor
May 2022 change
(hours:mins)
1 Google Search US 41.1m 41.3m 39.6m -1.8m 83% 01:29
2 Bing US 13.9m 21.9m 18.5m -3.4m 39% 00:38
3 Yahoo! US 1.5m 1.6m 1.6m -24k 3% 00:07
4 DuckDuckGo US 1.8m 1.3m 1.5m +202k 3% 00:22
5 Yandex Russia 1.3m 379k 762k +383k 2% 00:01
6 Ecosia Germany 814k 724k 637k -87k 1% 02:42
7 Ask.com US 498k 574k 410k -163k 1% 00:07
8 Info.co.uk US 1.9m 539k 263k -275k 1% 00:01

9 Tineye Canada 177k 217k 195k -22k <1% 00:01

10 Baidu China 175k 82k 168k +87k <1% 00:03

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Note: Google Search does not include Google search services within Maps, Shopping, Play or
News. Custom defined list by Ofcom. Due to the low reach of some of these services they may be more prone to
year-on-year fluctuations. Green boxes indicate year-on-year increase, red boxes decrease.

Bing, Yahoo, ask.com and info.co.uk have a higher adult

audience reach on computers compared to their mobile device
audience
Four of the top ten search engines had a higher adult audience reach on computers, compared to
their smartphone or tablet audience, in May 2024 (see Figure 19). Over 90% of Yahoo!’s and
ask.com’s adult audience visited the search engines via a computer, while Bing and Info.co.uk
reached 57% and 66% respectively. Google’s reach is likely particularly high on smartphones as it is
the default search engine on Android devices, and also on Apple devices through the Safari browser.
Similarly, Bing’s reach is probably relatively high on computers as it is the default search engine for
both Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer browsers. 57

57
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
30
Figure 19: UK adult reach of the top ten highest-reaching search engines, by device: May 2024

1578k
Yahoo! 73k
1423k
93k
39.6m
1454k
DuckDuckGo 953k
34.m 541k
138k
762k
Yandex 665k
71k
45k
637k
Ecosia 369k
18.5m 329k
86k
16.1m
410k
ask.com 28k
389k
9.7m 10.5m 3k
6.1m 263k
Info.co.uk 71k
175k
.9m 18k
195k
Tineye 117k
Google Search Bing 46k
32k
168k
Baidu 117k
53k
13k

Any device - smartphone, tablet or PC/Laptop Smartphone PC/Laptop Tablet

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note:
Google Search does not include Google search services - Maps, Shopping, Play or News. Custom defined list by
Ofcom.

Bing’s reach increased when it introduced an AI tool into its

service, but has since fallen back
In February 2023, Microsoft launched a version of its Bing search service and Edge web browser
powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology, called Bing Chat. 58 Following this release, the number of UK
online adults visiting Bing.com peaked in April 2023, at 46% (22.2m), a 60% increase on the figure six
months earlier (29% UK online adults, 13.9m in October 2022). 59 But because Bing Chat was
integrated within Bing’s search engine, it is likely that not all users were aware that they were using
generative AI. Since April 2023 Bing’s adult reach has been slowly declining, stabilising in April 2024,
but remains higher than before the introduction of generative AI. 60 In September 2023 Microsoft
began rolling out its new AI tool, Copilot, replacing Bing Chat by November 2023. 61 Copilot is
available to use as a standalone website and app but is also available within the bing.com site,
therefore some visitors to Bing.com may be using Copilot or Bing’s search engine (for more on
Copilot see Generative AI section). Older UK online adults are more likely than younger adults to visit
Bing (UK online 25-34-year-olds: 36% (3.1m) vs over-64s: 43% (3.9m) in May 2024). 62

58
Microsoft, Reinventing search with a new AI-powered Microsoft Bing and Edge, 7 February 2023.
59
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, October 2022 and April 2023, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
60
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, bing.com, monthly 2022-2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
61
Microsoft, Announcing Microsoft Copilot, your everyday AI companion, 21 September 2023.
62
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, bing.com, monthly 2022-2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
31
Figure 20: Monthly UK adult reach of Bing.com website: October 2022 – August 2024

Sept 26th 2023:

Microsoft begins
to roll out Copilot.

Nov 15th 2023:

Feb 7th 2023: The New Microsoft
Bing rolled out in rebrands Bing
preview with generative
Chat to Copilot.
AI integrated in search.
22.2m 21.9m 21.8m
21.4m 21.2m
20.8m 20.4m 20.6m 20.m
19.6m 19.9m
18.9m 18.8m 18.5m 18.5m 19.0m
18.5m 18.2m 18.3m 18+

15.6m
15.1m
13.9m 14.3m

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, October 2022 – August 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.

Generative artificial intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) broadly refers to algorithms that can create content
in response to a prompt. The new content can include text, images, audio, video or code. The
content created is based on the content datasets on which the algorithm model was trained.
The monetisation of generative AI is at an early stage, currently comprising a variety of business
models (ad-funded, subscription, payments and licensing) and is likely to remain diverse in the
medium term.
Ofcom commissioned a survey to understand UK internet users’ use of generative AI. This section
draws on research conducted in June 2024 among UK online people aged 16+ and British online
children aged 8-15. The survey asked respondents about their use of 16 generative AI tools. 63

Half of UK online males aged 16+ have used a generative AI tool

in the past year, compared to a third of females
Ofcom research found that 41% of UK internet users aged 16+ said they had used a generative AI
tool in the past year, with 18% of those aged 16+ saying they had used a generative AI tool in the
past month. Internet users aged 16-24 were the most likely to say they had used a generative AI tool
in the past year (78%) compared to all other age groups (see Figure 21). There is a clear difference in
gender regarding generative AI use. UK online males aged 16+ were more likely than females to have
used a generative AI tool in the past year (50% vs 33%). Males in every age category were more
likely to have used a generative AI tool, with the largest difference appearing among 45-54-year-olds
(22 percentage points (pp)), closely followed by 35-44s (21pp) and 16-24s (19pp). 64

63
Generative AI tools in survey: ChatGPT; ChatGPT Plugin; My AI on Snapchat, Google Gemini, Microsoft
CoPilot, DALL-E, Midjourney, Character.AI, Scribe, AlphaCode, Quillbot, Synthesia, Claude from Anthropic,
Perplexity, Stability’s AI tools and Grok on X.
64
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
32
Figure 21: UK internet users aged 16+ who have used a generative AI tool in the past year, by age
and gender: June 2024

All Male Female

87%

78%
73%
68%
65%
57% 58%
50%
47% 47%
41%
37% 36%
33%
30%
25% 24%
18% 19%
14%
9%

16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024. Question 1: When, if
ever, did you last use each of the following GenAI tools? Net results Generative AI tools include: ChatGPT;
ChatGPT Plugin; My AI on Snapchat, Google Gemini, Microsoft CoPilot, DALL-E, Midjourney, Character.AI,
Scribe, AlphaCode, Quillbot, Synthesia, Claude from Anthropic, Perplexity, Stability’s AI tools and Grok on X.
Base: UK internet users age: 16+ (2520).

ChatGPT is the most popular generative AI among adults

Ofcom’s June survey provides a snapshot of people’s reported generative AI use. We also looked at
Ipsos iris data to track trends in adults’ actual use, as collected by passive monitoring of
smartphones, tablets and computers used by the Ipsos iris panel. 65 Ofcom’s survey found that 33%
of UK online aged 16+ said that they had used ChatGPT in the past year, with a long tail of other
generative AI tools reaching 15% or less. 66 Ipsos iris data found that 9% (4.2m) UK online adults aged
18+ visited ChatGPT in May 2024, 67 increasing to 11% (5.0m) in August 2024. ChatGPT’s adult reach
was highest among UK online 18-24-year-olds (27%, 1.4m) in May 2024. However, while reach to
those aged 25+ remained relatively stable in the following two months, reach to 18-24-year-olds
declined by 16% (-226k) – see Figure 23 below. 68 This may be partly because this time period marked
the end of the academic year, with this age group potentially having less need to find information or
content relating to their education (see below on activities undertaken on generative AI tools). The
notable increase in reach, particularly to 25-34 year olds, in August 2024 compared to previous
months, may partially be attributed to the publicity generated by OpenAI’s announcement on 25 July
of its SearchGPT Prototype – a search designed to combine OpenAI’s AI models with information
from the web. 69 In terms of gender, 62% (2.6m) of ChatGPT adult visitors in May 2024 were men,

65
For more on Ipsos iris see Methodology.
66
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
67
In May 2024 ChatGPT updated its domain name from chatgpt.openai.com to chatgpt.com, therefore unlike
preceding months, when iris reported on OpenAI website which included ChatGPT, we can now report on the
ChatGPT website and app separately from the OpenAI website (from May 2024).
68
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, ChatGPT, May 2024, July 2024 and August 2024, age
18+, UK internet users.
69
OpenAI, SearchGPT prototype, 25 July 2024.
33
while 38% (1.6m) were women. 70 Microsoft Copilot and Snapchat My AI were the second- and third-
highest-reaching generative AI tools. 71
In December 2023, Google launched its new AI assistant, Google Gemini, available for use by
internet users with a Google account. By June 2024, Ofcom research found it was the fourth-highest-
reaching generative AI among internet users aged 16+ (10%). Ipsos iris found that 548k (1%) UK
online adults visited the Google Gemini website in May 2024. However, it should be noted that
access to Gemini is also available through the Google app, which offers visitors a toggle option, so
the app can be used for Google Search or Google Gemini. 72

Figure 22: Reported use of generative AI tool in the past year, UK internet users aged 16+
33%

15%
11% 10%
8% 8%
6% 6% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 4% 4%

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024. Question 1: When, if
ever, did you last use each of the following GenAI tools? Base: UK internet users age: 16+ (2520).

Figure 23: Monthly reach of ChatGPT, by age: May - August 2024

May-24 June-24 July-24 Aug-24

1736k

1424k
1360k 1399k
1256k 1273k 1269k
1198k

993k
856k 879k
721k

550k 582k
485k
426k
302k 298k 295k
233k
141k 102k 158k 162k

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Age

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, ChatGPT, May – August 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.

70
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, ChatGPT, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
71
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
72
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
34
Although the most popular reason for using a generative AI
tool is to find information or content, only a small proportion
of users trust it to provide reliable information
Considering all services, almost half of UK internet users aged 16+ said they had used a generative AI
tool in the past 12 months ‘for fun’ (48%), while 43% said they had used one for work and 23% for
study. The most popular activity performed using a generative AI tool in the past year among UK
internet users aged 16+ was to find information or content; 36% reporting this as a reason. Male
internet users aged 16+ were more likely than females in the same age group to use a generative AI
tool to find information or content (39% vs 32%), for coding (15% vs 4%), to create images (24% vs
13%) and to explore the technology (36% vs 22%). 73
Almost one in five (18%) UK generative AI users aged 16+ said they were confident that the
information provided by generative AI was reliable, with the majority of users (61%) neutral in their
confidence in trusting the information provided. 74 Users aged 16-24 (21%) and 25-34 (23%) were
more likely to be confident that the information provided was reliable, compared to older adults
aged 45-54 (11%) and 55+ (12%). Male users aged 16-24 were more likely than females in the same
age group to say the information was reliable (28% vs 14%). 75

Figure 24: Reasons for using a generative AI tool in the past year, UK internet users aged 16+

Finding information or content 36%

Exploring the technology 30%
Summarising existing text 24%
Seeking advice 23%
Creating images 20%
Creating new text 20%
Just chatting 17%
For planning 17%
Coding 10%
Creative videos 6%
For emotional support/therapy 6%
Creating audio outputs 5%

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024 Question 2: You said you
have used a GenAI tool in the past year. Which, if any, of the following are reasons you have used a GenAI tool
during this time? (Please select all that apply). Base: UK internet users age: 16+ who have used GenAI in the
past 12 months (1010).

73
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
74
Reliability of generative AI tools are subjective and some tools may be considered more reliable than others.
The answer to this question is based on generative AI perception in general.
75
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK. Base: those
who had used generative AI in the past year.
35
Half of UK internet users aged 16+ have not used a generative
AI tool 76
Female internet users are more likely than males to have never used a generative AI tool (57% vs
42%). The most common reasons given for not having used a generative AI tool, by both males and
females, was that they were ‘not interested in using it’ (38%) and/or that they ‘did not feel the need
to’ (35%). There were some differences between genders: thirty per cent of female users said they
did not know how to use a generative AI tool, compared to 23% of male users. Seventeen per cent of
female users said they had concerns about using generative AI, compared to 11% of males, which
suggests that they may be less confident about using generative AI and so choose not to do so.
Females were also more likely to say they did not know what generative AI was (29% vs 19%). In
particular, older females were more likely than their male counterparts to say they were concerned
about generative AI (65+: 17% vs 10%) or did not know about it (35-44: 25% vs 10% and 45-54: 29%
vs 15%). 77
Among internet users aged 16+ there were concerns about the future impact of generative AI on
society. Three in five (59%) UK internet users aged 16+ said they were worried; female users were
more likely to say this (64%) than males (55%). Forty-six per cent of internet users in Britain aged 8-
15 said they were worried about the future impact of generative AI on people. 78

Figure 25: Reasons for not using a generative AI tool, by UK non-users of generative AI aged 16+

16+ 16+ male 16+ female

40%
38%
35% 35% 35% 35%
30% 29%
27%
25%
23%
21% 20% 22%
19%
17%
15%
11%

I'm not interested in I don't need to use I don't know how to use I don't know what I don't trust Generative I'm concerned about
using Generative AI Generative AI Generative AI Generative AI is AI using Generative AI

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024. Question 5: You said
you have never previously used a GenAI tool, or are unsure. Which, if any, of the following are reasons why you
have never used a GenAI tool? (Please select all that apply.) Base: UK internet users age: 16+ who have not
used GenAI or don't know if they have (1432).

More than half of online children in Britain aged 8-15 said they
had used a generative AI tool in the past year
Fifty-four per cent of online children in Britain aged 8-15 had used a generative AI tool in the past
year and 29% of children said they had used one in the past month. Teens aged 13-15 were more
likely to have used generative AI in the past year than children aged 8-12 (66% vs 46%). As with users
aged 16+, ChatGPT was the most popular generative AI tool among this age group; it had been used
by 37% of online 8-15-year-olds in the past year. The reach of all 16 of the generative AI tools we

76
When asked about their use of a range of generative AI tools participants were able to select ‘don’t know’
which is why the percentages for use of generative AI tools may not add to 100%.
77
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
78
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 16+, UK and age: 8-15,
GB.
36
surveyed was higher to children in Britain than to UK people aged 16+ (see Figure 22 and 26). Like
people aged 16+, boys were more likely than girls to have used ChatGPT (42% vs 32%), although the
gender gap here is smaller than between adults. Teenagers aged 13-15 were more likely than those
aged 8-12 to have used ChatGPT in the past year (46% vs 32%). 79
Unlike the position among UK internet users aged 16+, Snapchat My AI was the second-highest-
reaching generative AI tool among online children in Britain (30%), with its reach not far behind
ChatGPT (37). Online teenagers aged 13-15 were more likely than children aged 8-12 to have used
Snapchat My AI in the past year (44% vs 21%). 80 Snapchat is already a popular social media platform
among children, used by 30% of 8-11 year olds and 59% of 12-15 year olds, 81 so this is likely to have
reduced the friction to using the My AI service, as children are already within the Snapchat
ecosystem. In the 2023 Online Nation publication we reported that Snapchat My AI was the most
widely-used generative AI tool, used by 51% of 7-17-year-olds by June 2023, 82 following its release in
April 2023. This suggests that the initial surge of interest in My AI has not been sustained over the
past year, leading to a reduced number of child users, although it is still one of the highest-reaching
generative AI tools. 83

Figure 26: Use of generative AI tools in the past year, by online children aged 8-15 in Britain
37%

30%

23%
18% 17% 16% 15%
12% 12% 12% 12% 11% 11% 11% 10% 10%

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024. Question 1: When did
you last use each of the following GenAI tools? Base: GB internet users age: 8-15 (1051).

Over half of 8-15-year-olds in Britain who use generative AI

said they used it to help with schoolwork
Sixty-three per cent of online children in Britain aged 8-15 said they had used a generative AI tool in
the past year ‘for fun’ and over half (53%) had used AI to help with schoolwork. Older children aged
13-15 were more likely than the 8-12s to have used a generative AI tool to help with schoolwork
(59% vs 48%), while children aged 8-12 were more likely than those aged 13-15 to have used it for
fun (67% vs 58%). ‘Finding information or content’ was also a popular use case (31%) among online
children in Britain aged 8-15. ‘Creating images’ was the second most popular activity, with 30% of
children citing this, while it was the fifth most popular activity among online users aged 16+. As in
the 16+ age group, boys were more likely than girls to have used a generative AI tool in the past year

79
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age 8-15, GB.
80
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age 8-15, GB.
81
Ofcom Parents’ and Children’s Online Behaviours and Attitudes survey, 2023.
82
CHILDWISE summer omnibus 2023. Services used in the past six months: Fieldwork conducted June-July
2023.
83
Note: data is from a survey with different questions and age ranges and therefore not directly comparable.
37
to explore the technology (33% vs 22%) or to create new text/words (for example, writing a poem)
(23% vs 16%). 84
Unlike UK internet users aged 16+, children had higher levels of trust; a third (34%) of generative AI
users in Britain aged 8-15 said they trusted the information from these tools to be reliable.
Nevertheless, the majority expressed a ‘neutral’ confidence level (48%). Boys were more likely than
girls to say they trusted the information (40% vs 28%), particularly boys aged 8-12 in comparison to
girls in the same age group (40% vs 24%). 85

Figure 27: Reasons for using a generative AI tool in the past year, internet users in Great Britian
aged 8-15: 2024

Finding information or content 31%

Creating images 30%
Exploring the technology 28%
Just chatting 28%
Creating new text 20%
Seeking advice 18%
Creative videos 17%
For planning 14%
Summarising existing text 13%
Creating audio outputs 9%
Coding 9%
For emotional support/therapy 6%

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024. Question 2: You said
you have used a GenAI tool this year. Why did you use the GenAI tool(s)? Base: GB internet users age: 8-15 who
have used GenAI in the past 12 months (559).

Young children who do not use generative AI are most likely to

say they do not know what it is, while teenagers are most likely
to say they are not interested
A third (32%) of internet users aged 8-15 said they had not used a generative AI tool. Among those
aged 8-15 who had not used a generative AI tool, the younger children (aged 8-12) were less likely to
know what generative AI was, compared to children aged 13-15 (29% vs 16%). But the older children
(aged 13-15) were more likely than the 8-12s to say that they were not interested in using
generative AI (38% vs 12%), that they did not need to use it currently (30% vs 19%), and that they did
not trust it (11% vs 4%). Unlike those aged 16+, trust and concerns about generative AI were less of a
factor in children’s decision not to use generative AI (6% cited ‘I don’t trust generative AI’, 2% were
concerned about using it). There were some gender differences: online girls aged 8-15 were less
likely to know what generative AI was, compared to boys in the same age group (31% vs 19%).
Specifically, girls aged 8-12 were less likely than boys in the same age group to know what
generative AI was (38% vs 19%). Interestingly, boys aged 13-15 who did not use generative AI were
less interested in using it than girls in the same age group (47% vs 31%). 86

84
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age 8-15, GB.
85
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 8-15, GB. Base: those
who had used generative AI in the past year.
86
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Generative artificial intelligence, June 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
38
 Social media
Social media services connect users and enable them to build communities around common
interests or connections, allowing them to create and share a wide range of content. Typically, users
can find, follow and communicate with each other through direct messaging, posting or sharing
content, as well as commenting and reacting to content. Some social media services are also video-
sharing services where users can upload and share videos with the public, and some also support
livestreaming.
Social media is monetised primarily through advertising, often targeted based on users’ online
behaviour and demographic information. According to IAB UK in 2023, social display advertising
amounted to £7.5bn, over two and a half times more than five years ago, and representing a 16%
year-on-year increase following a plateau in 2021-2022. However, as the online advertising market
matures, social media companies are diversifying with paid-for revenue streams. Many social media
companies have introduced a premium subscription model option offering enhanced services.

Reddit has become the fastest-growing large social media

platform in the UK, reaching over half of UK online adults by
June 2024
Launched in 2005, Reddit is a discussion forum on which users can create posts in topic-based
communities, known as subreddits, and interact in comment threads. Within the top ten highest-
reaching social media services, Reddit had the largest year-on-year increase in adult reach. Forty-
eight per cent (22.9m) of UK online adults visited Reddit in May 2024, an increase of 47% (+7.3
million) year on year (May 2023: 33%, 15.6m). This increase moved Reddit up the social media
ranking by two positions to become the fifth-highest-reaching social media service, overtaking
LinkedIn and X (see Figure 28). 87
Various factors may have contributed to Reddit’s growth in adult audience over the past year. For
example, in July 2023, Reddit began charging for its Application Programming Interface (API) access.
So developers who had created their own apps, populated with Reddit information using the API,
such as subreddit information, posts, comments, and user profiles, could no longer do this for free. 88
This resulted in some of these third-party apps becoming unavailable, potentially forcing their users
to switch to the Reddit site in order to continue accessing Reddit.
By the end of 2023 Reddit reached 39% (18.3m) of UK online adults, up by 2.7 million since May that
year. It increased further in March 2024, with an additional 3.2 million UK adult visitors compared to
the previous month (total UK adults: 44%, 20.8m). 89 This growth may partially be due to the publicity
around Reddit’s £5.0bn IPO; it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 21 March 2024. 90
By June 2024 Reddit reached over half (52%, 24.6m) of UK online adults. 91

87
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Reddit, May 2023 and May2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
88
Reddit blog, Key Facts to Understanding Reddit’s Recent API Updates, 15 June 2023.
89
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Reddit, December 2023 and March 2024, age:
18+, UK internet users.
90
Reddit, Inc. SEC filing on 22 February 2024.
91
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Reddit, June 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
39
Quora can be considered Reddit’s nearest rival in terms of its functional similarity as a knowledge-
sharing platform where users ask, answer, and discuss a wide range of questions. Quora has also
grown steadily over the past year, reaching 31% (14.6m) of online adults by May 2024, a year-on-
year increase in adult reach of 24% (+2.9m) (May 2023: 25%, 11.8m), and now ranking in 8th place,
having overtaken Pinterest. 92
Reddit’s adult gender composition is fairly evenly split; its UK adult audience comprised 52% men
and 48% women in May 2024. However, there is a skew towards men in total time spent: 61% of the
total UK adult time spent on Reddit in May 2024 was by men and 39% by women. Although Quora’s
gender composition was also evenly split (men 48% vs women 52%), 70% of the total time spent by
UK adults on Quora was by men (30% women). Within the top ten high-reaching social media
services, Quora had the largest share of total time spent by men - see Figure 31. 93

92
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Quora, May 2024 and May 2023, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
93
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Reddit and (BG) Quora, May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
40
Figure 28: UK online adult reach of top ten social media sites/apps, and time spent on services: May 2022, 2023 and 2024

UK online
Average daily UK adult reach in Average time spent per day by UK adult
UK total adult reach in month adult
month visitor
May reach
2024
reach May 2023 vs
May May May May 2024 May May May
rank Social media May 2024 May 2022 May 2023 May 2024
2022 2023 2024 Year-on-year 2022 2023 2024
change

1 YouTube 44.0m 43.6m 44.5m +2% 94% 20.1m 20.4m 25.4m * * 47 minutes
Facebook /
2 45.0m 43.9m 43.1m -2% 91% 32.1m 29.5m 30.5m * 28 minutes 39 minutes
Messenger
3 Instagram 34.2m 34.7m 36.1m +4% 76% 15.6m 16.6m 19.6m 10 minutes 12 minutes 17 minutes
4 TikTok 16.6m 21.2m 24.0m +13% 51% 5.4m 6.7m 7.6m 27 minutes 26 minutes 27 minutes
5 Reddit 14.9m 15.6m 22.9m +47% 48% 3.3m 3.6m 4.9m 5 minutes 5 minutes 4 minutes
6 X 26.8m 24.0m 22.1m -8% 47% 10.3m 9.5m 8.6m * 10 minutes 9 minutes
7 LinkedIn 18.6m 18.9m 18.3m -3% 39% 4.7m 5.3m 4.3m 2 minutes 2 minutes 2 minutes
8 Quora 11.2m 11.8m 14.6m +24% 31% 1.2m 1.5m 1.6m 1 minute 1 minute < 1 minute
9 Pinterest 14.0m 12.5m 13.2m +6% 28% 2.1m 1.9m 2.1m 1 minute 1 minute 1 minute
10 Snapchat 9.8m 10.3m 10.1m +1% 21% 5.2m 5.8m 6.1m 22 minutes 29 minutes 31 minutes
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: Social Media and Online Forums, May 2022/2023/2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: TV set and
smart display use not included. Time spent based on monthly average time per visitor in month divided by number of days in month. *Due to methodology enhancement YouTube
time-spent data cannot be compared to previous years. Improvements to synthetic app data to more closely align with the minutes metric with the weighted panel data resulted
in Facebook apps and Twitter (now X) data in 2022 to not be comparable to 2023 onwards. Green boxes indicate year-on-year increase, red boxes decrease.

41
The TV screen is increasingly important for YouTube, with
growth largely driven by children and young adults
According to Ipsos iris, YouTube remains the highest-reaching social media service among UK online
adults using smartphones, tablets or computers, in-or out-of-home, with more than nine in ten
(94%, 44.5m) visiting it in May 2024, and over half (54%, 25.4m) of online adults visiting YouTube
daily in May 2024, an 11pp increase (43%, 20.4m) since May 2023. On average, YouTube adult
visitors spent 47 minutes per day across smartphones, tablets or computers on the service in-or out-
of-home in May 2024, with an average of 21 videos viewed. More than half this time (54%, or 26
minutes per day), was spent on the service on smartphones, with the remainder split evenly
between tablets and computers (11 minutes (23%) on each device). 94
Data from Barb found that total in-home video viewing on YouTube over a broadband connection,
which includes use on the TV set, grew from an average of 35 minutes per individual aged 4+ per day
in the first half of 2023 to 38 minutes in the first half of 2024, up by 9%. Over this period the average
time spent viewing YouTube on a TV set increased by 31%, from 11 minutes in H1 2023 to 15
minutes per day in H1 2024. Children and young adults appear to be driving the growth on TV set
viewing, with children aged 4-17 viewing 25 mins in H1 2024, up by 18% since H1 2023, and 18-24-
year-olds spending 18 mins in H1 2024, up by 50% since H1 2023. 95

Figure 29: Average time spent per day viewing YouTube at home on a TV set, by age: 2022-2024
(minutes)

H1 2022 H1 2023 H1 2024

25

21
19
18
16
15 15
15
13
11 12 12 12
11 11
9 9 9 9
8
6 6
4
3

Age 4+ 4-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

TV set reach: 67% 83% 67% 76% 78% 70% 63% 40%
H1 2024 (42.9m) (9.1m) (3.4m) (6.7m) (7.0m) (5.9m) (5.6m) (5.1m)

Source: Barb as viewed on TV sets only, individuals 4+

TikTok and Snapchat visitors aged 18-24 spend about an hour

per day on each service
There are clear demographic differences in the amount of time internet users spend on some social
media services. For YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, the time spent by users decreases
with age – see Figure 30 below. Snapchat is largely used by young people: among online 18-24-year-
olds in the UK it was the sixth-highest-reaching social media service, reaching 69% (3.7m) in May

94
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) YouTube, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users. Time spent based on monthly average time per visitor in month, divided by number of days in month.
95
Barb as-viewed data captures YouTube video consumption on TV sets and on other devices via the home’s
WiFi network; any viewing outside the home or viewing via mobile networks is not included.
42
2024, compared to tenth place among all adults – see Figure 28. 96 Sixty-four per cent of the total
time spent on Snapchat by UK adults in May 2024 was by 18-24s, who spent on average 55 minutes
per day on the service in May 2024, while visitors aged 65+ spent 4 minutes.
Seventy-four per cent (3.9m) of online 18-24-year-olds visited TikTok in May 2024, spending an
average of 64 minutes per day on the service, while just 28% (2.5m) of internet users aged 65+
visited the service, spending on average 2 minutes per day. Thirty-nine per cent of the total time
spent on TikTok by UK adults in May 2024 was spent by adults aged 18-24. Sixty per cent (3.2m) of
18-24s visited both Snapchat and TikTok. 97
Facebook users aged 18-24 are the least engaged with the service, spending an average of 15
minutes a day on the platform, much lower than the average time spent by adults overall (39mins).
It is notable that only 4% of the total time spent on Facebook by UK adults in May 2024 was spent by
those aged 18-24. 98

Figure 30: Average daily time spent by UK adult visitors to selected social media services ranked
within the top ten reaching services by age (arrows indicate increase/decrease in time spent as
age increases): May 2024 (minutes)

18+ 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

101

63 64
54 55
47 47 47
42
39 38
33 34 36
33 31
29 28 27
22 24 22
17 17 17 16 15
10 12 12
8
4 2 5 4

YouTube Instagram TikTok Snapchat Facebook & Messenger

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note:
Time spent based on monthly average time per visitor in month divided by number of days in month. Time
spent across smartphone, tablets and computers only.

Women accounted for the majority of time spent on Pinterest,

Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook
Four-fifths (79%) and two-thirds (66%) of the total time spent by UK adults on Pinterest and
Snapchat respectively in May 2024 was by women. On average, female Snapchat users spent 36
minutes per day on the service, while men spent 26 minutes. Breaking this down by age, women
aged 18-24 were spending 67 minutes on the service per day while 18-24-year-old men were
spending 42 minutes. For TikTok, on average, female visitors spent 29 minutes on the service per day
in May 2024, unchanged since May 2023 (30 minutes). However, the average time spent by men
increased from 19 minutes per day in May 2023 to 23 minutes per day in May 2024. Women aged
18-24 who visited TikTok spent on average 1 hour 17 minutes on the service, while men in this age
group spent 29 minutes less (48 minutes). The proportion of time spent on Quora by male visitors

96
The top five social media services for 18-24-year-olds rank similarly as all adults.
97
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Time spent
based on monthly average time per visitor in month divided by number of days in month.
98
Ibid.
43
has also increased from 64% in May 2023 to 70% in May 2024, while the proportion of time spent by
female visitors to Reddit has increased from 35% to 39%. 99

Figure 31: Share by gender of total time spent on the top ten highest-reaching social media
services, UK adults: May 2024

Men Women

30%
40% 39% 37%
44%

66% 64% 62% 61%

79%

70%
60% 61% 63%
56%

34% 36% 38% 39%

21%

Pinterest Snapchat Instagram TikTok Facebook & Youtube LinkedIn Reddit X Quora
Messenger

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: Social Media and Online Forums, May
2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.

A year after its release, Meta’s microblogging service Threads

was the 12th highest-reaching social media service, but
remained far behind X
In July 2024 – the same month of launch the previous year – Threads reached 11% (4.3m) of UK
online adults, having become the 12th highest-reaching social media service, six places behind
leading microblogging service X. The average adult visitor spent in total 1 hour 26 minutes on the
service in July 2024. 100
Although X remains the highest-reaching microblogging service, its UK adult reach continues to
gradually decline. In 2021, before its acquisition by Elon Musk, the UK average monthly adult reach
was 27.9 million. This declined by 1.5 million in 2022, resulting in a monthly average of 26.5 million.
Following Musk’s acquisition in October 2022, X’s UK reach has continued to decline, with a 2023 UK
adult monthly average of 23.7 million, a decline of 2.7 million year on year. In the first nine
months 101 of 2024, monthly average reach was 22.1 million, a loss of another 1.6 million adult
visitors. X achieved its highest daily reach to UK adult audiences in 2024 on 5 July (9.8m, 21% of UK
online adults), the day after the UK General Election. 102
Bluesky a microblogging service conceptualised by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developed in
parallel with Twitter – now X. X initially funded Bluesky, but since Musk’s purchase of X, Bluesky has

99
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Time spent
based on monthly average time per visitor in month divided by number of days in month.
100
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Threads website or app, May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
101
Data available up to September 2024 at time of writing.
102
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, X app and site, Threads includes app and site
Threads.net, May 2024 & July 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
44
been independent of X. 103 In May 2024 80k (0.2%) UK online adults visited Bluesky (website or
android app), its reach slightly increased in August to 127k (0.3%), however there was a sizeable
increase of 263% in September 2024 reaching 461k (1.0%) UK online adults. X and Threads remained
the leading microblogging services in September 2024, reaching 21.2 million (45%) and 6.6 million
(14%) UK online adults respectively. 104

Figure 32: X vs Threads, UK online adult key metrics: July 2024

In July 2024: X THREADS

UK online adult visitors to web or app: 23.5 million (50%) 5.3 million (11%)
Among social media services UK online adult
reach rank: 6th 12th
Average daily UK online adult visitors: 9.1 million (19%) 2.1 million (4%)
UK online adult visitors to the app in month: 14.3 million (30%) 4.6 million (10%)
Proportion men vs women visitors in month: 56% vs 44% 49% vs 51%
Average time spent per UK adult visitor per
day: 9 minutes 3 minutes
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, July 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note:
Time spent based on monthly average time per visitor in month divided by number of days in month.

Messaging and calling

Messaging services enable users to send and receive messages that can only be viewed or read by a
specific recipient or group of people. Some services apply encryption to messaging. In addition to
text, most of these services allow users to share voice notes, images and videos, and make and
receive video calls. Some high-reaching messaging services are also social media services; these
social media services are explored in the Social Media section.
As Ipsos iris measures the visits to websites and apps, Ofcom conducted a survey to understand use
of messaging services, both on popular multi-service sites such as social media services, which
include messaging and call functionalities as part of their overall proposition (such as Facebook
Messenger on Facebook), and on dedicated messaging and call services (such as Telegram). The
survey was conducted on 2-3 July 2024 and asked about use of the services in the past month (i.e.
June 2024).

103
Techcrunch, What is Bluesky? Everything to know about the app trying to replace Twitter, 24 July 2023
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, August 2024 and September 2024, age:
104

18+, UK internet users.

45
Meta-owned WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram
direct are the top three messaging and call services among UK
internet users aged 16+
Meta-owned WhatsApp (web or app) continued as the highest-reaching messaging service, reaching
87% of UK online adults in May 2024. Sixty-four per cent of UK online adults accessed WhatsApp per
day in May 2024, an increase of 6pp compared to May 2023 (58%). 105 Ofcom’s survey similarly found
that 86% of UK internet users aged 16+ had used WhatsApp in June 2024, followed by Facebook
Messenger with 59% and Instagram direct messages 106 with 30%. 107
While WhatsApp’s gender audience composition was fairly evenly split in May 2024 (men 47% vs
women 53%), some services skew to a male audience. Sixty-six per cent of adults who visited
Telegram in May 2024 were men (34% women), and Discord’s adult audience was similarly split by
gender (66% men vs 34% women). 108 This broadly aligns with the figure from Ofcom’s Adults’ Media
Literacy Tracker, which shows that men account for over three in five of both console and PC gamers
- the main communities served by Discord. 109
Although our July survey did not include Microsoft Teams and Apple Facetime, our Adults’ Media
Literacy tracker found that 24% of over-15s used Microsoft Teams and 31% used Facetime in
2023. 110
Figure 33: UK online adult reach of ten highest-reaching online messaging / call services and
average time spent: May 2024

Total adult audience in month Average

UK online
Messaging time spent
adult reach
Rank or call Year-on- by visitor in
May May May in
service year May 2024
2022 2023 2024 May 2024
change (hrs:mins)
1 WhatsApp 40.0m 40.9m 41.4m +0.5m 87% 07:41
Facebook
2 32.8m 33.4m 30.4m -3.0m 64% 03:39
Messenger*
Google
3 9.7m 10.7m 12.7m +2.0m 27% 01:16
Messages
4 Zoom 8.6m 7.1m 6.7m -0.4m 14% 00:45
5 Discord 4.4m 5.9m 6.2m +0.3m 13% 04:41
Phone by
6 4.7m 5.0m 5.4m +0.4m 11% 02:33
Google app
7 Telegram 2.6m 3.2m 3.4m +0.3m 7% 01:14

105
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) WhatsApp, May 2023 & May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users.
106
As Instagram direct messages is not a standalone site it is not measured in Ipsos iris.
107

Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
UK.
108
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
109
Ofcom Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023.
110
Ofcom Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023. Note: These are not reported on in Ipsos iris or the Ofcom
Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+, UK.
46
 Total adult audience in month Average
UK online
Messaging time spent
adult reach
Rank or call Year-on- by visitor in
May May May in
service year May 2024
2022 2023 2024 May 2024
change (hrs:mins)
Google
8 118k 3.2m 3.0m -0.3m 6% 00:17
Meet
9 Skype 1.7m 1.9m 1.7m -0.2m 4% 01:13
10 Signal 943k 1.1m 1.2m +0.1m 2% 02:24
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Note: Custom-defined list by Ofcom. *Facebook messaging service can be accessed via the
main Facebook platform and is not counted here. Includes Facebook Messenger app or messenger.com visitors.
Microsoft Teams not included as desktop app use not measured. Green boxes indicate May 2024 year-on-year
increase, red boxes decrease.

WhatsApp was the highest-reaching messaging and calls service, across all age groups. However,
there were notable differences by age group between some of the other popular services.
Instagram direct message was the second-highest-reaching service among UK online 16-24-year-olds
(71%) followed by Snapchat messenger (62%). And although Facebook Messenger is the second-
highest-reaching service among online users aged 16+, its reach is predominantly driven by those
aged 25+; it is the sixth-highest-reaching service among online 16-24s (40%), and second-highest for
all other adult age groups. 111

Figure 34: Messaging and call services used by UK internet users aged 16+: June 2024

age 16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

91% 91%
89% 87%
86%
81%

71% 71%

62% 63% 62%

59% 59%

50%
48%
43%
40%
36% 34%
30% 32% 32%
28%
24% 23% 24%
18% 16%
15% 16%
12% 10%
9% 9% 8% 7% 9% 9%
3% 3% 1% 3%

WhatsApp Facebook messenger Instagram direct iMessage (by Apple) Snapchat messenger TikTok direct messages Telegram
messages

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 7: Thinking about the past month (i.e. since the start of June)... Which, if any, of the following
communication services have you used? (Please select all that apply). Responses for Google messages not
shown. ‘None of these’ and ‘don’t know’ responses also not shown. Base: UK internet users. Age: 16+ (2100).

Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
111

UK.
47
 Forty-three per cent of Snapchat Messenger UK users aged 16+
sent a disappearing image or video on the service in June 2024
Some messaging services offer users the ability to send ‘disappearing’ messages, also referred to as
ephemeral messaging; WhatsApp refers to this functionality as ‘view once’ – the message
automatically disappears from the recipient’s screen once it has been viewed. Sending disappearing
images or videos is the third most popular functionality on Snapchat, behind text messaging and
sending images or videos. Fifty-seven per cent of 16-24-year-old Snapchat users have used it to send
a disappearing image or video. WhatsApp and Telegram were the other services in our current
research which offer view once or disappearing images/videos functionalities: they were cited to
have been used by 9% and 12% of users respectively. The most popular form of communication on
all the services asked about in our research was sending text messages. 112

Figure 35: Functionalities used by those aged 16+ who said they used the selected messaging and
calls services: June 2024

WhatsApp Facebook Messenger Instagram direct messages iMessage (by Apple) Snapchat messenger TikTok direct messages Telegram

95%
91%
84%
80%
76%
74%

62% 62%
60% 59%
57%

44% 46% 45% 43%

40%
35%
31% 31%
22% 21%
22% 18% 21% 23% 21%
19% 20% 17%
14% 15% 14% 16% 12% 14%
12% 12%
7% 7% 11% 9%
4% 4% 6% 5%

Sent a text message Sent images or videos Had a voicecall Had a video call Shared a weblink Sent a voicenote Sent view
once/disappearing
images or videos

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 8: Which, if any, of the following activities have you done on the communication services you've used
in the past month? (Please select all that apply for each row). Responses for Google messages not shown.
‘None of these’ and ‘don’t know’ responses also not shown. Not all messaging and call services offer
disappearing/view once functionality. Apple Facetime calls can be started from iMessage which may be the
reason respondents selected iMessage. Base: UK internet users age: 16+ who have used selected
communication services in the past month (183-1803).

Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
112

UK.
48
Twenty-four per cent of UK internet users aged 16+ said they
followed a broadcast channel on a Meta-owned service
Broadcast channels are a one-way broadcasting feature within the messaging section of some Meta-
owned services – WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger. Users can follow information from
people and organisations they are interested in. Channel administrators can send text, photos,
videos, stickers, and polls. At the time of our research users following the broadcasts could only
react to the broadcasts or vote in polls.
Twenty-four per cent of UK internet users aged 16+ said they followed a broadcast channel: 17%
followed a broadcast channel on WhatsApp, 14% on Instagram and 13% on Facebook Messenger.
Young people were more likely than older adults to follow a broadcast channel; 42% of online 16-24-
year-olds followed at least one broadcast channel on any of the three Meta-owned services, while
only 19% of those aged 55+ did the same. Among those who follow a broadcast channel, the most
popular topic was football, with 36% saying they followed such a channel. The next most popular
sport-related topic was tennis (9%), followed by cricket (8%); this may have been influenced by the
timing of the research, which took place shortly after Wimbledon and the Cricket World Cup. 113

Figure 36: Top 5 Topics followed by broadcast channel users in the UK aged 16+: July 2024

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 10: You previously said you follow broadcast channels on at least one Meta-owned service...Which, if
any, of the following topics do you follow using a broadcast channel(s)? (Please select all that apply). Base: UK
internet users age: 16+ who follow Meta broadcast channel (512).

Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
113

UK.
49
 Dating
Online dating services provide users with the opportunity to form romantic connections or forge
new friendships via messaging and calls. Users are often paired using algorithms which use the
information users enter when creating their profiles. Users can typically filter by demographic
features and location.
Many dating services operate a freemium business model, where the service is offered free with
limited features, but users can upgrade to paid services. Revenue streams include subscriptions
and/or in-app purchases.

There has been a decline in UK adults’ use of each of the top

three highest-reaching dating services
In May 2024 one in ten (10%, 4.9m) UK online adults visited an online dating service, in line with last
year’s figure of 11% (May 2023). Almost 4% of UK online adults (3.8%, 1.8m) visited an online dating
service daily in May 2024. Match Group’s dating services, which includes Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of
Fish and Match.com, together reached 6% of UK online adults (2.9m) in May 2024 (down from 3.2
million the year before). Tinder remains the highest-reaching of Match Group’s portfolio of dating
services, reaching 1.9 million (4%) UK online adults, but this figure has declined by 600k (5%) from
2.5 million visitors in 2023. Bumble Inc., which owns Bumble and Badoo, reached 1.4 million UK
online adults (3%) in May 2024 (down 300k from 1.7 million in 2023); 2% visited Bumble, while 1%
visited Badoo. 114
While this decline in UK online adult visitors since last year is only slight, some analysts speculate
that for younger people, particularly Gen Z, the novelty of dating apps is wearing off. 115 Match Group
has reported declines in Tinder subscribers for several consecutive quarters. 116 In January 2024 the
group said that Tinder’s team will be focusing on “shaping an in-app experience that resonates
better with today’s younger users”, having found that its Gen Z users were seeking “a lower pressure,
more authentic way to find connections”. 117 In July 2024 it announced that Tinder would be “working
to deliver high-quality user outcomes, especially for women” and testing some new features
accordingly. Nevertheless, the declines in audiences and time-spent figures for online dating services
have been small and further monitoring is required to see if the current decline becomes a trend.
New entrants to this year’s top ten highest-reaching dating services are Sniffies and Scruff, which are
marketed as LGBTQ+ dating and social networking services for men. Last year Scruff ranked in 14th
place with 0.3% UK adult visitors (122k) and this year ranks in 9th place with 0.4% (182k). The base
size for Sniffies was too low for there to be reportable data in May 2023, although in May 2022 it

114
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: Online dating services, May 2022, May
2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
115
Bustle, Dating apps are in their flop era, 8 January 2024, [accessed 19 July 2024]; New York Times, It's not
you: dating apps are getting worse, 16 March 2024, [accessed 19 July 2024]; CNN, Tinder downloads are falling
but the dating app era isn’t over yet, 14 February 2024, [accessed 19 July 2024]; BBC, Tinder parent company
cuts jobs as subscriber numbers slump, 31 July 2024, [accessed 31 July 2024].
116
Match Group, Letter to Shareholders, Q2 2024, 30 July 2024, [accessed 31 July 2024]. As cited in: BBC,
Tinder parent company cuts jobs as subscriber numbers slump, 31 July 2024, [accessed 31 July 2024].
117
Match Group, Letter to Shareholders, Q4 2023, 30 January 2024. As cited in: CNN, Tinder downloads are
falling but the dating app era isn’t over yet, 14 February 2024, [accessed 19 July 2024].
50
had 112k visitors (0.2%). The low average time spent on the service may suggest that visitors are
being directed to the site from other online services and may not be dedicated users. 118
Many people use more than one dating service, with Tinder being widely visited by those who also
use other dating platforms. Over half of visitors to Bumble (57%), Hinge (56%) and Plenty of Fish
(54%) also visited Tinder during May 2024. Fifty-three per cent of Bumble visitors and 41% of Tinder
visitors also visited Hinge during the month, and the majority (82%) of those who visited Scruff also
visited Grindr. 119

Figure 37: UK online adult reach and time spent on top ten high-reaching dating services: May
2024

Total UK Total UK Total UK UK online Average time

Year-on-
adult reach adult reach adult adult reach spent in May
Service year
in May in May reach in in May 2024
change
2022 2023 May 2024 2024 (hrs:mins)

1 Tinder 2,155k 2,488k 1894k -594k 4.0% 01:03

2 Hinge 1,042k 1,510k 1378k -131k 2.9% 02:34

3 Bumble 1,220k 1,440k 1072k -368k 2.3% 02:09

4 Grindr 790k 924k 913k -11k 1.9% 07:02

5 Badoo 490k 482k 521k +39k 1.1% 01:49

6 Squirt 460k 530k 438k -92k 0.9% 00:07

7 Plenty of Fish 537k 625k 378k -247k 0.8% 01:34

8 Sniffies 112k - 310k - 0.7% 00:01

9 SCRUFF 117k 122k 182k +60k 0.4% 00:50

10 Match 287k 209k 182k -27k 0.4% 01:34

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Dash represents data unavailable for that period.

While Tinder remains the highest-reaching service, the time

spent there was much lower than on other platforms
Visitors spent an average of just over an hour (1 hr 3 mins) on Tinder in May 2024, compared with
two and a half hours spent on Hinge (2 hrs 34 mins) and two hours spent on Bumble (2 hrs 9 mins).
The fifth-highest-reaching dating service, Grindr, had by far the longest time spent per visitor; the
average visitor spent seven hours (7 hrs 2 mins) on the platform in May 2024. These timings remain
similar to last year. 120

118
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
119
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
120
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
51
Dating services were visited by nearly one in five UK online 18-
24-year-olds in May 2024
Online dating services reached 18% (943k) of 18-24-year-olds in May 2024, the highest reach to any
adult age group. The second-highest cohort were 25-34-year-olds, with 17% (1.5m) visiting at least
one dating service in the month. However, the 25-34 age group spent on average an hour longer
than 18-24-year-olds on dating services in the month (3 hours 7 minutes compared to 2 hours 6
minutes). Although only a small proportion (6%, 468k) of 55-64-year-olds visited an online dating
service in May 2024, those who did visit spent the most time there: an average of 5 hours 43 mins
on online dating services in the month. 121
In terms of which dating service different age groups were most likely to visit, Hinge skewed most
heavily towards younger adults, with 72% of its visitors aged 18-34, followed by Tinder with 66%.
Plenty of Fish, Match and Scruff’s visitors skewed more towards older adult users; more than half of
visitors were aged 35-54 for Plenty of Fish (59%) and Match (54%). 122

Figure 38: Top ten dating services by adult reach, adult audience composition by age: May 2024

4% 8% 7% 3% 7% 9% 12%
19% 10% 11% 14% 7% 13%
16% 14% 11%
7% 16% 14%
15% 13%
17% 18%
24%
25% 19% 32%
35% 24% 24%
17% 30%
41% 14% 15%
37%
18% 23%
38% 27% 30%
34%
33% 39% 41%
18%
31% 29% 28%
23% 20%
11% 16% 11% 7% 5% 3%
Total online Hinge Tinder Bumble Squirt Grindr Sniffies Badoo Plenty of SCRUFF Match
adults Fish
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, adults age: 18+, UK internet users.

While men still outnumber women on online dating services

overall, Hinge was more popular among women in May 2024
Of the overall adult visitors to online dating platforms in May 2024, 65% were men and 35% were
women, compared to 61% men and 39% women in the previous year (May 2023). Men still
outnumber women on most online dating services. Hinge was the only service in the top ten where
women outnumbered men; of Hinge’s adult visitors in May 2024, 53% were women, a 3pp increase
compared to May 2023 (50%). 123
Match and Bumble both had the next highest proportion of women visitors in May 2024, with 41%
for each. Bumble, known for allowing only women to initiate conversations with matches, in Spring

121
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
122
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
123
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
52
2024 introduced a new ‘Opening Move’ feature which (in heterosexual connections) allows male
matches to send a first message in response to a woman’s pre-written ‘Opening Move’ message. 124
Bumble explained that the new feature “lightens the load of initiating a chat but still allows women
to control their experience”. 125 Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ dating services Scruff, Grindr, Sniffies and Squirt
have high proportions of male visitors. 126

Figure 39: Top ten dating services by adult reach, adult audience composition by gender: May
2024

15% 12%
31% 29%
41% 41% 39%
51% 53%

98% 100%
85% 88%
69% 71%
59% 59% 61%
49% 47%

Total online Hinge Match Bumble Tinder Plenty of Badoo Squirt Sniffies Grindr SCRUFF
adults Fish
Male 18+ Female 18+

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.

Nearly 2 million UK adults visited an online dating service on

Valentine’s Day 2024
Four per cent (1.91m) of UK online adults visited an online dating service on Wednesday 14th
February 2024, spending an average of 19 minutes across the services. Reach on Valentine’s Day was
not markedly higher than usual, however; total online dating services’ adult audience exceeded 2
million per day on the weekend after Valentines Day (17th February 2.03m, 18th 2.00m). Four percent
of UK online adults (1.87m) visited an online dating service daily in February 2024. More than half
(55%) the visitors were aged 18-34, representing 8% (1.0m) of this online age group. While the
majority of all adult visitors on this day were men (61% male vs 39% female), among 18-34-year-olds
the gender split was more even; of the 18-34-year-old visitors, 54% were male and 46% were
female. 127
The top five most-visited services on that day, in order of reach, were Tinder (711k), Hinge (669k),
Bumble (448k), Grindr (389k) and Plenty of Fish (170k). New entrants, compared to the May 2024
ranking, were Feeld (57k) in 8th place and Boo (32k) in 10th place. 128

124
In non-binary and same gender connections either person can set and respond to an ‘opening move’.
Source: Bumble, Opening Moves, [accessed 12 July 2024].
125
TechCrunch, Bumble’s Opening Move feature takes the pressure off women to come up with a new
message every time, 30 April 2024,; Forbes, Men Can Now Initiate Conversations On Bumble—Here’s Why It
Matters, 3 May 2024.
126
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
127
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
128
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
53
Among adult women, however, Hinge was the most popular dating service on Valentines Day 2024,
which aligns with the May 2024 data. More adult women visited Hinge on this day (320k) compared
to Tinder (260k) and Bumble (168k). Meanwhile, after Tinder (451k), more adult men visited Grindr
(384k) than Hinge (349k). 129

Services for pornographic content

Services for pornographic content 130 primarily provide, or enable the sharing of, pornographic
content (sometimes also described as ‘adult content’). This content can be published or displayed in
the form of text, videos and images or audio, or provided in a live or interactive format. Users can
also sometimes search for user-generated content and connect with one another. Some services are
known as ‘tube sites’ and focus on uploaded pre-recorded images or videos. Others are known as
‘cam sites’ which content creators use to livestream content to customers, and may enable
interaction between performers and viewers. Some content creators may use ‘fan platforms’ where
they sell access to content on a subscription basis or on ‘clips marketplaces’ where they sell access
to discrete pieces of content. 131 Paid content is common on services for pornographic content, but
many free-to-use services rely on advertising to generate large proportions of their revenue. Some
services, often run by studios which produce content, require users to buy a monthly subscription.

Twenty-nine per cent of UK online adults accessed a

pornographic content service in May 2024
Twenty-nine per cent (13.8m) of UK online adults accessed a pornographic content service in May
2024, remaining stable with the previous two years (May 2023: 29%, May 2022: 31%). 132 For the first
half of 2024, monthly average time spent on pornographic content services by UK adult visitors was
1 hour 33 minutes; a 10% decrease (-11 minutes) compared to the first half of 2023 (monthly
average 1 hour 44 minutes). 133 The UK nation with the highest online adult reach was Northern
Ireland, with 34% (431k) visiting pornographic content services in May 2024, followed by Wales
(32%, 694k), Scotland (30%, 1.2m) and England (29%, 11.5m). 134

Pornhub continued to be the most popular pornographic

content service for UK online adults
Pornhub continued to be the highest-reaching pornographic content service across nations, for both
men and women, and all adult age groups, visited by 18% (8.4m) of UK online adults in May 2024.
This is consistent with the previous two years. Adult visitors spent an average of 50 minutes on
Pornhub in the month (May 2023: 52 minutes). 25-34-year-olds made up the largest share of

129
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, 14 February 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
130
Note that Ipsos iris data for pornographic content services may be base figures as panellists may choose to
use non-tracked devices to visit such sites.
131
Free speech coalition, Guidance for service providers publishing pornographic content, accessed 10
September 2024
132
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: general x-rated adult, May
2022/2023/2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
133
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: general x-rated adult, monthly average:
January - June 2023 and January - June 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: 1 hour 32 minutes for May
2024.
134
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: general x-rated adult, May 2024, age:
18+, internet users, UK nations.
54
Pornhub’s adult audience (31%, 2.6m), and reach within this online age group was the highest (30%)
of any age group. Smartphones were the device most likely to be used by UK adults to visit Pornhub,
with 84% of total time spent on Pornhub in May 2024 attributed to smartphones, a higher
percentage than any of the other top ten highest-reaching pornographic content services. 135
According to Pornhub, the UK was the fifth-highest country in terms of daily traffic to its website in
2023, dropping three places and being overtaken by the Philippines, France and Mexico (the USA
remains top). 136

Figure 40: Share of total time spent by UK online adults on the top ten highest-reaching
pornographic content services, by device: May 2024

5% 3% 7% 1% 5% 5%
9% 9% 13%
16%
11%
22%
16% 19% 19% 38%
14% Tablet
47% 49%
35%

PC/Laptop
84%
75% 75% 74% 72% 69%
61%
51% 48% Smartphone
46%

Pornhub Onlyfans Eporner Xvideos Fap house Xnxx Chaturbate Xhamster Livejasmin Stripchat

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: general x-rated adult, May 2024, age:
18+, UK. Note: Custom defined list by Ofcom.

Chaturbate was the second highest-reaching pornographic content service, reaching 10% (4.8m) of
UK online adults in May 2024, steadily increasing its adult audience by 22% (865k) since May 2022
(8%, 3.9m). The heavily marketed Chaturbate added an additional 550k to its total UK adult audience
in May 2024 compared to April 2024, and increased its reach to 11% (5.3m) by August 2024
(+515k). 137 Chaturbate operates a model whereby account holders are encouraged and financially
rewarded for redirecting traffic from other services. Eporner (May 2024: 3% reach, 1.3m) has
increased its monthly audience by 59% since May 2023 (2% reach, 810k) and nearly trebled it since
May 2022 (1% reach, 440k). 138
The biggest declines in reach among the top ten pornographic content services were WGCZ-owned
site Xvideos (May 2024: 7%, 3.5m), which lost 13% (523k) of its May 2022 audience, and Xnxx (May
2024: 5% reach, 2.2m) which lost 14% (366k) – see Figure 41 below. 139
Stripchat (4 minutes), Livejasmin (3 minutes) and Fap house (2 minutes) had low average minutes
per visitor in May 2024 compared to the time spent on the other pornographic content services in

135
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Pornhub, May 2023/2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
136 Pornhub Insights, Year in review 2023, 9 December 2023.
137
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, April 2024 to August 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
138
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
139
ibid.
55
the top ten. 140 This could be due to a high number of accidental or required clicks to prominent
banner or pre-roll advertisements on other pornographic content services, leading to small amounts
of average time spent on these services.

Figure 41: Top ten highest-reaching pornographic content services used by UK online adults in May
2024, average time spent by visitors (millions): 2022-2024

Average minutes per visitor in May 2024

50 mins 13 mins 38 mins 39 mins 43 mins 4 mins 3 mins 15 mins 10 mins 2 mins
8.2 8.4 8.4

4.8
3.9 4.2 4.0 4.0
3.5 3.2
2.9 2.7 3.1 2.6
2.2 2.3
2.0 2.2 1.9 2.0 1.8
1.5 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.2
0.8 0.8
0.4

Pornhub Chaturbate Xvideos Xhamster Xnxx Stripchat Livejasmin Onlyfans Eporner Fap house
May 2022 May 2023 May 2024

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: general x-rated adult, May
2022/2023/2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: Custom defined list by Ofcom.

Men are more than twice as likely as women to visit a

pornographic content service
Men remained far more likely to visit a pornographic content service, comprising 72% of the UK
adult pornographic content services audience in May 2024 (women 28%), consistent with the
previous year (May 2023: men 73%, women 27%). This was a reach of 43% (10.0m) of UK online
men, compared to 16% (3.8m) of UK online women. Male visitors spent on average 1 hour 44
minutes visiting pornographic content services in May 2024, while female visitors on average spent
one hour. 141
Pornhub’s audience had the highest proportion of women visitors of any top ten service (29%),
slightly ahead of the category average of 28%. OnlyFans was the most heavily male-dominated
service; only 8% of its adult visitors were women. Looking at the wider top 50 sites, there were only
two other services, text-based erotic fiction service Literotica (May 2024: 1% reach, 542k) with 45%
female share, and Xcams (May 2024: 1% reach, 381k) with 52%, which had a women visitor share
higher than the category average. Bellessa, ranked 107th (0.2% reach, 113k) – a pornographic video,
fiction and retail service specifically aimed at women – retained the highest proportion of female
users of any service at 66% in May 2024, in line with 65% in May 2023. 142

140
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
141
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: general x-rated adult, May 2023 and May
2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
142
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
56
Figure 42: Gender composition and reach of top ten highest-reaching pornographic content
services: May 2024 (millions)

UK online adult reach in May 2024

Male Female
Pornhub 71% 29% 25% (5.9m) 10% (2.5m)

Chaturbate 76% 24% 16% (3.7m) 5% (1.1m)

Xvideos 83% 17% 12% (2.9m) 2% (593k)

Xhamster 86% 14% 11% (2.7m) 2% (418k)

Xnxx 78% 22% 7% (1.7m) 2% (479k)

Stripchat 86% 14% 8% (1.9m) 1% (306k)

Livejasmin 90% 10% 8% (1.8m) 1% (197k)

Onlyfans 92% 8% 7% (1.7m) 1% (156k)

Eporner 90% 10% 5% (1.2m) 1% (131k)

Fap house 92% 8% 5% (1.1m) <1% (95k)

Male Female

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note:
Custom defined list by Ofcom.

News
Online news services can be delivered by traditional broadcast or print news providers while some
are online-native (e.g. Huffington Post, Tortoise Media). There are also online intermediaries such as
news aggregators (e.g. Apple News), social media and search engines which bring together news
stories from multiple sources. Ofcom research found that six in ten UK adults (59%) said they used
some form of online intermediary for their news consumption. Meta (40%) and Google (32%) are the
most commonly used intermediaries, reaching three-quarters of all adults. Four of the top ten
individual news sources are now social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and X). 143
Online news services generate their revenue primarily through advertising, although subscriptions
have grown consistently over the last few years. Digital advertising revenues for news brands in the
UK amounted to £592m in 2023, falling from £634m in 2022, according to AA/WARC. 144 The BBC is
the only news organisation in the UK which does not employ either business model, as it is primarily
supported by the TV licence fee.

Seven in ten UK online adults visited at least one news service

per day in May 2024
In May 2024, Ipsos iris 145 found that 97% of UK online adults (45.8m) visited a news service,
spending an average of 11 minutes on these services per day in the month, level with the previous

143
Ofcom, News Consumption in the UK 2024.
144
Advertising Association / WARC Expenditure Report 2023.
145
Where news publishers have implemented Ipsos iris’ tagging methodology visits to their articles, via Google
AMP and Facebook, Instant Articles will pick up content consumed through these platforms and attribute
reach and time spent to the relevant publisher. Apple News content was categorised in October 2023 there
may be incremental increases in reach for some services when comparing year-on-year data.
57
year (May 2023: 97%, 12 minutes). Average daily reach for these services was also high, with on
average almost seven in ten UK online adults (69%, 32.7m) visiting at least one news service per day
in May 2024. 146
The BBC had both the highest reach (75%, 35.8m) and the highest average daily audience (33%,
15.7m) in May 2024. UK adult reach was up two percentage points year on year (May 2023: 73%,
34.9m) but was down slightly compared to May 2022 (77%, 36.6m). The Sun was the second-
highest-reaching service among adults (49%, 23.1m) in May 2024, experiencing a gradual decline in
reach, losing 3.0 million adults since May 2022 (55%, 26.1m).
News aggregation app Apple News, together with the Apple Weather app, was the eighth-most-
visited service overall (40%, 19.0m), but taking Apple News app on its own, 25% (11.9m) of online
adults visited it in May 2024, a slight year-on-year decrease (May 2023: 27%, 12.9m). The most
popular publisher visited on the Apple News app was The Mirror, visited by 9.28% (4.4m) of online
adults, followed by The Guardian (9.27%, 4.4m) and The Times and The Sunday Times (9.27%,
4.4m). 147

Among UK nations, only Wales and Northern Ireland have a

local title that reaches more than half the population
The BBC, The Sun and Mail Online featured in the top four news services for all UK nations, although
national titles retain high levels of reach in Wales and Northern Ireland. 148
Wales Online was the second-highest-reaching service among adults in Wales in May 2024 (55%
reach, 1.19m), increasing its year-on-year reach (May 2023: 52% reach, 1.16m). Apple News incl.
Weather (32%, 695k) and The Telegraph (30%, 647k) both appeared in the May 2023 top ten in
Wales, and both had increased visitor numbers since the previous year, although the greater
increases for Yahoo! (42%, 910k) and Metro (33%, 709k) pushed them out of the top ten in May
2024. Apple devices were used by only 46% of online adults in Wales in May 2024, compared to the
UK average of 55%, which could explain the relatively low ranking of Apple News (incl. weather) due
to its status as an iOS-only app. 149
Local title Belfast Telegraph had the third highest reach among adults in Northern Ireland (51%,
635k). Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, visitors to Metro increased significantly, up from 362k (29%) in
May 2023 to 468k (37%) in May 2024, making it the tenth most-visited service, displacing Apple
News (May 2024: 34%, 423k) from the top ten. Over a slightly longer period it appears that Metro’s
May 2023 position was an outlier, as visitor levels in May 2022 were notably higher (39%, 512k). The
Guardian saw a similar dip in Northern Ireland visitors in May 2023 compared with the surrounding
years. In common with Wales, online adults in Northern Ireland using Apple devices in May 2024
stood at 40%, 14 percentage points lower than the UK average, but of those using an Apple device,
90% used the Apple News or Weather app. 150

146
Ipsos, Ipsos Iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: News
category includes a wide range of services, covering topics including arts & culture, business & money,
education, entertainment, lifestyle, politics, technology among others.
147
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
148
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
149
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
150
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
58
In Scotland the Daily Record (39% reach, 1.5m) and The Scotsman (25%, 985k) had slight declines in
visitor numbers compared with May 2023 (43%, 1.7m and 29%, 1.2m respectively), and the growing
audiences for other services, including Sky News (1.4m to 1.5m) and Metro (995k to 1.2m), nudged
The Scotsman out of the May 2024 top ten (ranked 14th). 151
The July 2024 UK General Election had a limited impact on online news consumption across May to
July. The biggest change was among 18-24-year-olds: 58% reported an interest in news and current
affairs during this period compared with 39% at other times. However, across all adults, interest in
news and current affairs (48%) remained stable with non-election periods (50%). Social media sites
or apps (26%) were the most prominent source of online news and information on the General
Election. 152 On 5 July, the day after the election, 23.0 million (49%) UK online adults visited the BBC,
the largest single day adult reach in the month (average reach per day in month: 37%, 17.5m). 153

151
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
152
Ofcom, UK General Election news and opinion-formation survey 2024, June and July 2024, age: 18+, UK.
153
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, The BBC, July 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
59
Figure 43: UK online adult reach of top ten online news services, by UK nation (millions): May each year 2022-2024

UK England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland

36.59 30.69 3.06 1.73 1.11

BBC 34.86 BBC 29.26 BBC 2.91 BBC 1.67 BBC 1.03
35.77 30.17 2.96 1.64 1.01

26.10 21.73 2.28 1.34 0.66

The Sun 24.13 The Sun 20.17 The Sun 2.14 Wales Online 1.16 Mail Online 0.63
23.07 19.25 2.04 1.19 0.64

22.81 19.25 1.93 1.27 0.64

Mail Online 23.88 Mail Online 20.15 Mirror 1.81 The Sun 1.13 Belfast Telegraph 0.63
22.21 18.80 1.70 1.15 0.64

24.67 20.82 1.82 1.07 0.82

Mirror 22.62 Mirror 19.12 Mail Online 1.96 Mail Online 1.14 The Sun 0.70
21.48 18.10 1.68 1.09 0.63

19.60 16.48 1.38 1.22 0.70

The Guardian 19.90 The Guardian 16.97 Apple News 1.58 Mirror 1.03 Mirror 0.66
19.77 16.84 1.58 1.06 0.61

20.16 16.99 1.65 0.96 0.71

The Independent 20.04 The Independent 16.73 The Independent 1.78 The Independent 0.96 Belfast Live 0.73
19.01 16.26 1.53 0.92 0.61

16.80 14.26 1.83 0.67 0.58

Sky News 17.37 Sky News 14.63 Daily Record 1.71 Yahoo! 0.66
The Guardian 0.49
19.00 16.16 1.51 0.91
0.55

17.67 15.18 1.60 0.69

Apple News Apple News Sky News 0.55
18.90 16.17 The Guardian 1.62 0.79
The Independent 0.57
18.96 16.04 1.51 0.88
0.52

17.14 14.56 1.34 0.93

Metro Metro The Guardian 0.52
13.37 11.37 Sky News 1.44 0.82
Sky News 0.52
15.60 13.20 1.48 0.86
0.48

15.38 12.91 1.33 0.74

The Telegraph 15.64 The Telegraph 13.37 Metro 0.51
Metro 1.00 0.64
Metro 0.36
14.55 12.40 1.23 0.71
0.47

May 2022 May 2023 May 2024

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18, internet users. Note: Top ten based on 2024 news category ranking.
News includes weather. Apple News includes Apple News and Apple Weather apps. Apple News content was categorised in October 2023 there may be incremental increases in
reach for some services when comparing year-on-year data.

60
On average, UK men spent 39% longer than women on the top
ten news services
The overall online news audience reach is balanced between genders, with 51% of those visiting a
news service being female and 49% male in May 2024. This remains largely true for the top ten
services, with only minor variance between individual services. Apple News (incl. Weather app) has
the highest divergence with 55% of the audience female and 45% male in May 2024, 154 probably
linked to the higher levels of Apple device ownership among women. 155
However, average time spent visiting news services diverges significantly by gender, with men (4
hours 49 minutes) spending an average of 39% more time than women (3 hours 28 minutes) on the
top ten news services in May 2024. Across the top ten, time spent varied significantly by news
service. Men who visited the BBC spent twice as long on the news service (3 hours 7 minutes) as
women visitors (1 hour 39 minutes) in May 2024, and Sky News was similar, with men spending 80%
more time than women (men: 41 minutes, women: 22 minutes). Conversely, female visitors to Mail
Online spent an average of 55% longer than men on the service across the month (women: 1 hour
19 minutes, men: 51 minutes). 156

Figure 44: Average time spent by adult visitors to top ten highest-reaching online news services, by
gender: May 2024 (hours:minutes)

UK online adult reach in May 2024

Male Female
02:24
BBC 03:07 78% 73%
01:39
00:13
The Sun 00:15 46% 51%
00:12
01:06
Mail Online 00:51 45% 49%
01:19
00:11
Mirror 00:10 43% 48%
00:12
00:48
The Guardian 00:55 43% 40%
00:41
00:07
The Independent 00:08 39% 42%
00:06
00:32
Sky News 00:41 42% 38%
00:22
01:22
Apple News 01:16 37% 43%
01:28
00:06
Metro 00:05 31% 35%
00:06
00:51
The Telegraph 01:00 32% 29%
00:42

Adults Men Women

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users,
category: news. Apple News includes Apple News and Apple Weather apps.

154
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
155
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QM9. Thinking of your main mobile phone, does it use an Apple or an
Android operating system? Base: Where have a smartphone.
156
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
61
 Health and wellbeing
Over half of UK online adults visited NHS online in May 2024
Sixty-nine per cent (32.5m) of UK online adults visited one of the top ten health and wellbeing
websites or apps in May 2024, up from 66% for the same sites the previous year. The nhs.uk website
was the highest-reaching NHS-owned site or app, reaching 47% (22.5m) of UK online adults,
followed by the NHS app, visited by 21% (10.0m) of UK online adults in May 2024. Fifty-eight per
cent (23.0m) of adults in England visited NHS-owned sites or apps in May 2024, 53% (1.1m) in Wales,
39% (1.5m) in Scotland and 35% (437k) in Northern Ireland.
By some distance, the NHS was the highest-reaching health and wellbeing online service provider,
with 56% of UK online adults (26.5m) visiting either the NHS.uk website or NHS-owned apps in May
2024, a considerable lead (42pp) on the next-most-visited service, US-based health information
provider Healthline (14%). 157 The use of NHS online services peaked in December 2021, as the Covid-
19 Omicron variant spread rapidly and the NHS Covid Pass became mandatory in settings such as
hospitality venues in England, 158 reaching 81% (38.4m) of UK online adults. With the roll-out of the
Covid-19 vaccines and easing of restrictions, reach declined in 2022 and stabilised in 2023 (monthly
average: 25.6m). 159
Ofcom’s Technology Tracker survey found that 69% of internet users aged 16+ go online to book
and/ or access healthcare services; the 35-44 age group was the most likely to do this (78%), while
those in the DE socio-economic group were the least likely (53%). Fifty-five per cent of internet users
aged 16+ use online services for personal health or fitness/lifestyle monitoring, and those in the AB
socio-economic group are more likely to do this than those in the DE group (70% vs 38%). 160 Ofcom’s
Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker found that 76% of adults used apps or websites for wellbeing. This
included using them to relax (40%), to look up health symptoms (32%) or to ‘improve your mood or
feel happy’ (30%). 161

157
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
158
Gov.uk, Prime Minister confirms move to Plan B in England, 8 Dec 2021.
159
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users.
160
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024.
161
Ofcom, Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker, 2023.
62
Figure 45: UK internet users aged 16+ who have used apps or websites to book or access
healthcare services: 2024

16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ AB C1 C2 DE

77% 78% 82%

69% 70% 67% 73%
62% 58% 62%
53%

16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ AB C1 C2 DE

Age Socio-economic group

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024, QE9. For each activity listed below, please indicate whether you do
each activity on a mobile phone and/or another device, or not at all. Activity: Using apps or websites to book
and/or access healthcare services (e.g. consultation with hospital or GP.) Base: Where use internet at home or
elsewhere age 16+ (3798).

Post-pandemic, many health and wellbeing services are seeing

declining audience sizes
Sites that primarily serve as a source of health information dominated the top ten most-visited
health and wellbeing sites, with the NHS (56%), Healthline (14%), National Institutes of Health (10%),
WebMD (10%), Medical News Today (8%), Mayo Clinic (8%) and MSN Health and Fitness (6%) all
featuring prominently. Several of the largest health and wellbeing services have had declining
audience numbers over the past three years. Healthline has had the largest reduction, losing 23% of
its UK audience (2.7m) over three years. WebMD and Medical News Today have lost 15% (770k) and
19% (869k) respectively. This may be due to a reduction in people seeking the latest information on
Covid-19. 162
Services for monitoring fitness and exercise 163 also featured in the top ten, with Google’s Fitbit
reaching 8% of UK adults, Strava 7%, and Samsung Health 6% in May 2024. Fitbit and Strava have
had diverging fortunes: Fitbit has lost almost a million visitors (980k, -20%) from its audience since
May 2022, while Strava has gained 11% (340k). 164 Google purchased Fitbit in 2019 and has
incorporated features from Fitbit into its Google Pixel Watch, such as premium Fitbit features that
are available free of charge; Google’s plan not to release new versions of some Fitbit ranges may be
contributing to the decline in reach of the Fitbit site. 165

162
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
163
Apple Health app not measured by Ipsos iris.
164
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
165
Techradar, RIP Fitbit smartwatches – an end we could see coming a mile away, 18 Aug 2024.
63
Fifty-seven per cent of NHS sites’ adult visitors in May 2024
were women
There was a notable gender disparity in visitors to health and wellbeing sites, with women 10% more
likely than men to visit one or more sites within the category (women: 88%, men: 80%). 166 In May
2024 57% of the NHS sites’ adult visitors were women while 43% were men. This disparity was
particularly pronounced among visitors to sites such as Healthline, WebMD, Fitbit, Medical News
Today and Mayo Clinic: all attracted about twice as many women as men. Only two services in the
combined top ten had a larger male than female audience: MSN Health and Fitness more than 49%
more likely to be men (1.7m) than women (1.2m) and Strava 39% more likely (men: 2.0m, women:
1.5m). 167
The composition of the top ten services also varied between gender: in the men’s top ten, two
additional exercise trackers, Garmin (6%) and gamified step-tracker Sweatcoin (5.4%) featured as the
seventh and tenth most-visited apps respectively. Mayo Clinic (5.4%), Fitbit (4.9%) and Medical News
Today (4.6%) did not appear in the men’s top ten. In the women’s top ten, MyFitnessPal (7.3%)
appears, although Samsung Health (6.5%) and Strava (6.1%) do not. The menstrual and ovulation
tracker, Flo, (7.1%) also appears, as does Patient Access (7.3%) which enables users to book GP
appointments, order repeat prescriptions and access other NHS services. MSN Health and Fitness
(4.8%) did not make the women’s top ten. 168

166
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Category: Health, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
167
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
168
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
64
Figure 46: UK online adult reach for top health and wellbeing services
Adults Men Women
UK total audience in month Online UK total audience in monthOnline UK total audience in month Online
Rank reach % reach % reach %
Service Service Service
May May May May May May May May May
May 2022 May 2023 May 2024
2022 2023 2024 2024 2024 2022 2023 2024 2024

1 NHS 28.8m 24.8m 26.5m 56% NHS 12.6m 10.5m 11.3m 48% NHS 16.2m 14.3m 15.2m 63%

2 Healthline 9.5m 7.4m 6.8m 14% Healthline 3.2m 2.4m 2.3m 10% Healthline 6.4m 5.0m 4.6m 19%

National
3 Institutes of 3.9m 4.3m 4.7m 10% Strava 1.9m 1.8m 2.0m 9% WebMD 3.6m 2.6m 3.1m 13%
Health
National National
4 WebMD 5.3m 3.9m 4.5m 10% Institutes of 1.5m 1.6m 1.7m 7% Institutes of 2.4m 2.8m 3.0m 13%
Health Health
MSN Health &
5 Fitbit 4.9m 4.5m 3.9m 8% 781k 1.1m 1.7m 7% Fitbit 3.4m 3.2m 2.8m 12%
Fitness
Medical
Samsung Medical News
6 News 4.7m 3.8m 3.8m 8% 1.6m 1.6m 1.5m 6% 3.3m 2.6m 2.7m 11%
Health Today
Today

7 Mayo Clinic 4.0m 3.5m 3.7m 8% Garmin 1.1m 1.2m 1.5m 6% Mayo Clinic 2.7m 2.5m 2.5m 10%

BBC News –
8 Strava 3.2m 3.3m 3.5m 7% 1.7m 1.5m 1.4m 6% Patient Access 1.8m 1.8m 1.8m 7%
Health
Samsung
9 3.3m 3.0m 3.0m 6% WebMD 1.6m 1.3m 1.4m 6% MyFitnessPal 2.1m 2.1m 1.7m 7%
Health
MSN Health
10 1.4m 2.3m 2.8m 6% Sweatcoin 1.2m 1.4m 1.3m 5% Flo 992k 1.3m 1.7m 7%
& Fitness
Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Note: NHS includes NHS UK, nhs.wales and nhs.scot apps and site. Note:
Apple Health app not measured by Ipsos iris. Note: Custom defined list by Ofcom.

65
 Gaming
Gaming covers a wide variety of experiences. These experiences can vary depending on the device
used, from consoles, mobiles and computers through to headsets. The experience also varies
depending on the types of game played; for example, some games require internet access to
download the game but can be played offline, while other games can be played on or offline.
Online gaming can offer various functionalities, and these can differ by service and be applied in
combination; for instance, enabling user-to-user interaction in partially or fully simulated virtual
environments. Users may interact by creating or manipulating avatars, objects, and the
environments themselves, and/or by using voice and text chat. Some services use matchmaking
systems to match users with each other based on parameters such as network characteristics,
hardware, user preferences, availability and skill. This section will explore the take-up of devices that
can be used for online gaming, gaming subscriptions, and console/PC games as well as mobile games
that are popular in 2024.

Pre-schoolers and primary aged children are increasingly

gaming online
Ofcom’s 2023 Media Literacy research found that gaming among adults has continued to decline,
with 52% of people in the UK aged 16+ stating that they played games on devices, 169 either on or
offline, 170 a 4 percentage point (pp) year-on-year decrease (2022: 56%). This follows a similar
decrease the previous year, down from 60% in 2021. 171 A key factor driving this decline among those
aged 16+ may include a continuing adjustment from the peak of gaming seen during and shortly
after the Covid-19 period. However, the same is not true for children, for whom gaming remains
very popular; 90% of 3-15s play games on devices, either on or offline. There has been a notable
increase in 3-4-year-olds and 5-7-year-olds gaming online, increasing by 5pp and 7pp to 23% and
41% respectively in 2023. 172 Ofcom’s Children’s Media Lives found that children aged 8-17 who were
gaming appeared to place greater importance on it as a means of connecting and socialising with
friends rather than just simply enjoying playing the game. 173

169 Devices include smartphone, consoles, tablet, computer/laptop, VR headset, app on TV or wearable
technology.
170 Ofcom Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023.

171
The Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker Core survey in 2021 had a different methodology due to the Covid-19
pandemic. In 2023 and 2022, the Core survey combined face-to-face surveys with online surveys, while in 2021
the methodology was postal surveys. Any differences between 2021 and 2023 are therefore indicative only.
172
Ofcom Children’s and Parent’s Media Literacy Tracker 2023.
173
Ofcom Children’s Media Lives 2024 report.
66
 Figure 47: UK individuals who play games online

78%
76%76%
73%
71%
69% 68%
67%
64%
58% 58%
56%57% 56%
54%
47%
45%
43%
41%
39%38% 38%
35% 34% 35%
33% 33%

25%
23% 23%22%
18%18%
13%
11% 12%

3-15 16+ 3-4 5-7 8-11 12-15 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

2021 2022 2023

Source: 3-15-year-olds: Ofcom Children’s and Parents’ Media Literacy Tracker 2021/2022/2023: Online
Behaviours and Attitudes survey. Base: All children aged 3-15 (2021: 5,774; 2022: 5,889; 2023: 2,949). 16+:
Ofcom Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2021/2022/2023: Core survey. G3A. Do you play games online? (single
coded). Base: All adults (2021: 3660; 2022: 3651; 2023: 3643).

UK gamers aged 16-64 spent on average almost 7 hours per

week gaming
Ampere Analysis research in Q2 2024 found that the time that UK 16-64-year-old gamers reported
they spent gaming, either on or offline, had remained fairly stable: from an average of 6 hours 52
minutes a week in Q2 2023 to 6 hours 57 minutes in Q2 2024. Of all the age groups reported on, 25-
34-year-olds gamers spent the most time gaming: 7 hours 29 minutes a week, an increase of 38
minutes (+9%) year on year (Q2 2023: 6 hours 51 minutes). Only the 16-24 age group showed a year-
on-year decrease in the time spent gaming per week but this was a large fall – down by 18% from 7
hours 47 minutes to 6 hours 22 minutes. 174
Male gamers aged 16-64 on average spend more time gaming per week than female gamers (8
hours 4 minutes vs 5 hours 51 minutes), and this is particularly apparent among 25-34-year-old
gamers: males spend on average 3 hours 44 minutes longer than females per week. However, while
average time spent by male gamers aged 16-64 has remained stable, increasing by just 2 minutes
(+0.4%) from 8 hours 2 minutes in Q2 2023 to 8 hours 4 minutes in Q2 2024, the time spent by
female gamers has increased by 18 minutes (+5%) (Q2 2023: 5 hours 33 minutes). This increase
among females is being driven by older adults; younger adults spend less time gaming than in
2023. 175

174
Ampere Games – Consumer Q2 2022/Q2 2023/Q2 2024, gamers aged: 16-64, UK.
175
Ampere Games – Consumer Q2 2022/Q2 2023/Q2 2024, gamers aged: 16-64, UK.
67
Figure 48: Average weekly hours spent gaming by UK gamers aged 16-64, by age and gender: Q2
2024

All Male Female

09:12
08:40
08:04
07:24 07:29 07:28
06:57 06:54 07:00
06:22 06:37 06:22 06:26
06:10 06:10
05:51
05:28
05:10

16-64 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

Source: Ampere Games – Consumer, Q2 2024, gamers aged: 16-64, UK.

PlayStation 5 is the UK’s most popular games console, just

nudging ahead of Xbox
Overall, 38% of people aged 16+ live in a household with at least one games console, and 22% said
that they personally used a console, up from 20% in 2023. PlayStation 5 nudged ahead of Xbox
Series X or S as the console most likely to be actively used. Thirty per cent of households with at
least one games console have the PlayStation 5, up from 23% in 2023, while 29% have the Xbox
Series X or S, an indicative decrease of 4pp. 176 Thirty-four per cent of those aged 16+ who go online
play, or have downloaded games, on their phones. 177 Four per cent of UK adults in 2023 play games
on a VR headset (3%: 2023), and 16-24-year-olds are more likely than those aged 65+ to do this (9%
vs 1%). 178 All these devices can be used to play games online.
Ampere Analysis research found that few gamers played exclusively on one type of device, and the
proportion of gamers exclusively using a single device type is in decline. Twenty-three per cent of
smartphone gamers played only on a smartphone, down from 26% in Q2 2023; 19% of console
gamers played only on a games console, down from 25% in Q2 2023; and 8% of PC gamers played
exclusively on PCs, either on or offline. 179

176
The decrease in the percentage of respondents with at least one console in the household owning an Xbox
Series X and/or S in 2024 is not significant compared to data collected in 2023.
177
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023 and 2024. QD3. What games consoles do you or members of your
household actively use? QE10. in the last three months, have you or has anyone else in your household used
any of these gaming subscription services?
178
Ofcom Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023.
179
Ampere Games – Consumer Q2 2023 and Q2 2024, gamers aged: 16-64, UK.
68
 36% of gamers subscribe to a gaming subscription service in
2024
Gaming subscription services offer a variety of functionalities to users, such as direct access to
gaming catalogues, access at a reduced additional cost and/or online multiplayer functionalities.
Some subscription services may also provide access to cloud gaming/streaming. Over a third (36%)
of gamers (defined as those who go online to play or download games or have games app on their
smartphone) subscribe to a gaming subscription service in 2024. Young gamers are most likely to
subscribe to a service, with 45% of 16-24-year-olds saying they used a games subscription, while 12%
of 55+ say the same. Male gamers aged 16+ are more likely to subscribe to online gaming services, at
41% vs 30% females. 180
PlayStation Plus is the most popular gaming subscription service, used by 17% of UK gamers aged
16+. This is closely followed by Xbox subscriptions, used by 14%. Overall, 32% of gamers aged 16+
have a console multiplayer games subscription, with males (38%) more likely to subscribe than
females (26%). Males are more likely than females to subscribe to PlayStation plus (20% vs 13%) and
Xbox (18% vs 10%). Nintendo Switch online uptake is largely equal by gender, with 9% of males and
8% females saying they subscribe. 181
Ampere forecasts that in 2024 the UK will spend £5,676m on games content and services, a 0.6%
increase on 2023 (£5,644m) having previously risen from £5,560m (1.5%) in 2022. Spend on mobile
specifically is forecast to increase from £1,772m in 2023 to £1,888m in 2024, a 6.6% increase. Spend
on consoles has been decreasing and Ampere predicts that it will decrease by 4.4% from £2,954m in
2023 to £2,824m in 2024. 182
Figure 49: Games subscription services used by UK gamers aged 16+: 2024

21% 21%
20% 20% 20%

17%
16% 15% 16%
14% 14%

9% 10% 9%
8% 8% 8% 8%
7%
6% 6% 6%6%
5% 5% 5% 5%5% 5%
4% 4% 4%4%4% 4% 4%4% 4%
3% 3% 3% 3% 3%3%
2% 2%
1% 1%1% 1% 1%

Playstation Plus Xbox Live Ninetendo Switch EA Play Netflix Games Apple Arcade Prime Gaming Google Play Pass Ubisoft
(Essential, Extra or Gold/Games Pass Online
Premium) Core/Xbox Ultimate/
console
Total: 16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Source: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QE10. in the last three months, have you or has anyone else in your
household used any of these gaming subscription services? Note: Xbox games pass includes
ultimate/console/PC version. ‘A game streaming service e.g. Google Stadia, GeForce Now’ 1% not shown on
chart. Base: age 16+ those who go online to play or download games or have games app on their smartphone
(1913).

180
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024. QE10. in the last three months, have you or has anyone else in your
household used any of these gaming subscription services?
181
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023 and 2024. QE10. in the last three months, have you or has anyone else in
your household used any of these gaming subscription services?
182
Ampere Games – Markets.
69
EA Sports FC 24 was the most popular title across PlayStation,
Xbox and Steam platforms
EA Sports FC 24 183 was the game with the highest number of active users across Xbox, PlayStation
and Steam 184 in the UK in May 2024, at 2.93 million active users. EA Sports FC 24 gamers spent an
average of 23 hours on the game during the month. Interestingly, the game was made available to
PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers in May and June 2024 to coincide with The UEFA European
Football Championship, leading to a 17% surge in monthly active players from April to May 2024.
FIFA 23, the former iteration of EA Sports FC, was the top game in May 2023 with 2.99 million
users. 185
Fortnite remains the second most popular game, with its reach slightly decreasing from 2.78 million
in May 2023 to 2.65 million in May 2024. Fortnite gamers 186 spent an average of 17 hours in the
game in May 2024 across Xbox and PlayStation. 187 Fortnite can also be played on other devices:
Ipsos iris found that 241k UK adults visited the Fortnite website in May 2024. 188 Fortnite, Call of Duty
HQ and Grand Theft Auto V/Online maintained their year-on-year ranking positions (see Figure 50
below), although Rocket League dropped from fifth to seventh in the ranking. Roblox and Fallout 4
are new entrants to the top ten, with Roblox likely entering the top ten following its launch on
PlayStation in October 2023. Fallout 4 likely entered the top ten as a result of the release of the
Fallout TV series released on Amazon Prime in April 2024.
Five of the top ten titles are free-to-play games, while nine have multiplayer functionalities. All the
titles are available on consoles, with the exception of Counter-Strike 2, which is exclusively available
on PCs through Steam. 189

Figure 50: Top ten games across Xbox, PlayStation and Steam, based on active users in the UK:
May 2024

Free-to-play or Year-on-
Active users Active users year
Rank Title multiplayer mode Device brand
in May 2023 in May 2024 difference
available?

EA Sports FC 24
Xbox, PlayStation,
1 (FIFA 23 – for Multiplayer 2.99m 2.93m -
Steam
May 2023 data)
Free-to-play,
2 Fortnite Xbox, PlayStation 2.78m 2.65m -0.13m
multiplayer
Free-to-play, Xbox, PlayStation,
3 Call of Duty HQ 1.80m 1.76m -0.04m
multiplayer Steam
Grand Theft Xbox, PlayStation,
4 Multiplayer 1.77m 1.36m -0.41m
Auto V/Online Steam
5 Minecraft Multiplayer Xbox, PlayStation 1.33m 1.27m -0.06m
Free-to-play, 0.48m (Xbox
6 Roblox Xbox, PlayStation 1.22m +0.74m
multiplayer only)

183
EA Sports FC 24 also available for play on other platforms.
184
Windows, macOS, and Linux support Steam.
185
Ampere Games - Analytics, May 2023, May 2024 and June 2024.
186
Fortnite is not available via Steam.
187
Ampere Games - Analytics, May 2024
188
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
189
Ampere Games - Analytics, May 2024
70
 Free-to-play or Year-on-
Active users Active users year
Rank Title multiplayer mode Device brand
in May 2023 in May 2024 difference
available?

Free-to-play,
7 Rocket League Xbox, PlayStation 1.46m 1.11m -0.35m
multiplayer
Tom Clancy’s
Xbox, PlayStation,
8 Rainbow Six Multiplayer 0.71m 0.83m +0.12m
Steam
Siege
Xbox, PlayStation,
9 Fallout 4 0.12m 0.67m +0.55m
Steam
Free-to-play,
10 Counter-Strike 2 Steam 0.83m 0.61m -0.22m
multiplayer
Source: Ampere Games - Analytics, May 2024. Active users by accounts, so it is per user/account. The user does
need to be connected to the internet to be measured, but they do not need to playing a game online to be
tracked. This data exclusively measures active users on games, and could differ from other market data, such
as sales volume. Green boxes indicate year-on-year increase, red boxes decrease.

Candy Crush Saga remains the mobile game with the highest
adult audience, but Roblox and Monopoly GO! are gaining
users
Thirty-six per cent of UK smartphone users aged 16+ use at least one games app on their
smartphone, down 3pp from 39% in 2023. 190 Candy Crush Saga remained the highest-reaching
games app across smartphone and tablets, visited by 2.2 million adults in May 2024, a fall of 305k
adults year on year (May 2023: 2.5m). Twenty-six per cent of Candy Crush Saga’s adult audience
were aged 55-64 – its largest age cohort, while 18-24s made up its smallest age cohort (5%). Roblox
continued to gain users and became the second most popular games app among UK adults in May
2024. The Roblox website and app combined reached 5% (2.4m) UK online adults across computers,
smartphones and tablets. Monopoly GO! has continued its growth since launch in 2023, almost
doubling its audience in the past year, and rising to the fifth spot. Crossword Puzzle Redstone is a
new entrant to the top ten, attracting 900k adults in May 2024, reaching just under 2% of online
adults. Taking the top ten high-reaching games apps in May 2024 together, their combined adult
audience reach skewed towards women, who made up 60% of the adult audience (men: 40%). All of
the top ten high-reaching games apps skewed towards women. 191

190
Ofcom Technology Tracker 2023 and 2024. QM15. Do you use any of the following types of apps on your
smartphone?
191
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
71
Figure 51: UK online adult reach and average time spent per visitor of top ten reaching gaming apps on mobile devices: May 2024

Adult gender
Average time spent per day by
May Online composition in May
Adult audience in month visitor in month (mins:secs)
2024 adult 2024
Gaming app
rank by Year-on- reach in Year-on-
May May May May May
reach year May 2024 year Men Women
2022 2023 2024 2023 2024
change change
1 Candy Crush Saga 2.13m 2.54m 2.23m -305k 4.7% 23:46 15:37 -08:10 30% 70%

2 Roblox 1.26m 1.63m 1.90m +276k 4.0% 14:53 20:53 +06:00 42% 58%

3 Royal Match 0.70m 1.98m 1.88m -101k 4.0% 10:27 11:52 +01:26 35% 65%

4 Pokémon GO 1.62m 1.87m 1.72m -149k 3.6% 27:35 22:53 -04:42 43% 57%

5 Monopoly GO! - 0.90m 1.71m +813k 3.6% 11:51 25:06 + 13:15 41% 59%

6 Solitaire - Grand Harvest 1.47m 1.52m 1.33m -186k 2.8% 17:08 11:17 -05:51 23% 77%

7 Dominoes - Classic Edition - 1.44m 1.23m -209k 2.6% 00:19 00:11 -00:08 44% 56%

8 Wordscapes 0.88m 1.11m 1.22m +112k 2.6% 13:47 15:09 +01:22 29% 71%

9 Coin Master 1.03m 1.45m 1.10m -352k 2.3% 11:33 23:22 +11:49 47% 53%

10 Crossword Puzzle Redstone - - 0.90m - 1.9% - 04:07 - 33% 67%

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users. Dashes represent where data is unavailable for
the time period. Time spent based on monthly average time per visitor in month divided by number of days in month. Green boxes indicate year-on-year increase, red boxes
decrease.

72
 Retail
Online retail services allow users to purchase goods or services directly from a website or app. Users
can typically browse, search, and pay for products through the service. Some retail services also
allow users to review products and post messages. Online marketplaces such as eBay and Etsy allow
users to buy and sell goods or services. They often allow users or providers to create pages that
advertise their products. Users can often search for content and send direct messages to other
users. Retail services generate revenue via a range of revenue streams including sales, hosting third-
party sellers, subscriptions and advertising.

On an average day 35% of UK online adults visited Amazon, the

UK’s leading online retailer
Eighty-eight per cent (41.5m) of UK online adults visited Amazon in May 2024, consistent with the
same period in the previous two years (May 2022: 88%, May 2023: 87%). On average, 16.4 million
(35%) UK online adults visited Amazon per day in May 2024. On the 16th-17th July 2024 Amazon held
its annual Prime Day deal event, offering personalised deals for Prime members. Amazon
experienced an increase in adult reach on these two days with 48% (22.8m) and 45% (21.5m) of UK
online adults visiting Amazon on the 16th and 17th of July respectively; in comparison, the average
reach of online adult visitors per day in July (excluding Prime Days) was 37% (17.5m). 192 In 2023,
Amazon’s total UK sales revenues for its activities in the UK amounted to £26.37bn (2022: £24.96bn)
a 5.65% year-on-year increase. 193
Figure 52: UK online adult audience and average time spent per visitor for top ten high-reaching
retail services in May 2024: May each year 2022- 2024 (millions)
May 2024
Average time spent per UK online adult
Retail service
visitor (hours:minutes) reach %
41.9m
Amazon 02:16 88% 41.4m
41.5m
31.3m
eBay 01:27 64% 30.5m
30.2m
21.3m
Apple 00:20 43% 20.9m
20.6m

Temu 01:25 42% 13.8m

20.1m
16.9m
Tesco 00:26 39% 18.4m
18.3m
16.5m
Argos 00:11 37% 16.1m
17.4m
10.9m
ASDA 00:23 32% 14.5m
15.2m
11.5m
Marks & Spencer 00:19 28% 12.4m
13.2m
12.6m
Boots 00:09 28% 12.0m
13.2m
10.8m
Lidl 00:24 27% 11.1m
12.8m

May-22 May-23 May-24

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Note: custom defined list by Ofcom. No data for Temu in 2022 as it launched in April 2023.

192
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
193
Amazon SEC Form 10K filing, 31 Dec 2023. Note: currency converted from USD to GBP using Bank of
England exchange rates for 30 Dec 2022 and 29 Dec 2023.
73
Chinese-owned Temu, AliExpress and Shein are the fastest-
growing online retail services in the UK
As reported in our Online Nation 2023 report, Chinese e-commerce company Temu experienced
rapid growth in the first few months after its launch in April 2023. Temu peaked in July 2023 at 45%
(21.2 m) UK online adult reach, and has since remained relatively stable (apart from an outlier dip to
16.3m in February 2024, possibly related to a prominent product recall on safety grounds). 194 By
May 2024, Temu reached 42% (20.1m) of UK online adults (May 2023: 29%, 13.8m). Two other
relatively new China-based entrants to the sector appeared in the top 20 retail services: fast fashion
retailer Shein was the 14th highest-reaching online retailer, reaching 22% (10.5m) of UK online adults
in May 2024, an increase of 63% (+4.0m) since May 2022 (13%, 6.4m). AliExpress was the 17th most-
visited online retail service, reaching 18% (8.4m) of UK online adults, an increase of 47% (+2.7m) on
May 2023 (5.8m), and 79% (+3.7m) on May 2022 (4.7m). 195 UK users may be attracted to the
competitive pricing offered by these Chinese retailers as households navigate the cost-of-living crisis.

Figure 53: UK online adult reach of AliExpress, Temu and Shein, by month: May 2022 – August
2024

Temu Shein AliExpress

Decrease
potentially due to
product recall

21.25m 21.16m 21.51m

20.14m 20.2m 20.09m 20.49m
19.68m
19.3m 19.m 19.39m 18.83m
20.28m
Increase 17.62m
potentially due
to singles’ day 16.26m
sales 13.78m

Source: Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Measurement Service, (BG) AliExpress, (BG) Temu and (BG) Shein, monthly: May
2022 – August 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.

194
BBC, TikTok and Temu pull cheap heaters after testing revealed fire risk, 9 February 2024.
195
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Measurement Service, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet
users.
74
eBay is the most popular online marketplace, followed by
Facebook Marketplace
In recent years there has been a rise in the use of online marketplaces where users buy, sell or
exchange goods from other users of the platform and can interact with these users. Ofcom research
found that 75% of the UK online population aged 16+ said they had used an online marketplace 196 in
Q2 2024, with 57% using eBay. 197 As seen in Figure 52 above, eBay was the second-highest-reaching
retail service overall among UK adults in May 2024. 198 Facebook Marketplace 199 was the second-
most-used online marketplace in our survey (40%). 200
Launched in 2014, Vinted grew significantly during the pandemic, potentially driven by users having
a clear-out. In May 2022 10% (4.8m) of UK online adults visited Vinted, by May 2023 this had
doubled to 20% (9.4m), and then rose to 24% (11.4m) by May 2024. In comparison, eBay’s reach has
remained stable over the past three years. In May 2024, eBay’s adult gender composition was evenly
split (men: 49% vs women 51%), but Vinted skewed heavily towards women (78% vs 22% men) as
did both Depop and Etsy (both 66% women vs 34% men). A quarter (25%) of Vinted’s adult audience
was aged 25-34, its largest age cohort, followed closely by 35-44s, at 23% (18-24s: 14%). Depop’s
adult audience mostly consisted of 18-24 year-olds (44%) followed by 25-34s (27%). 201
While the most popular activity undertaken on online marketplaces in Q2 2024 was to browse the
service (66%), a third of UK online aged 16+ said that they had communicated with a buyer or
seller. 202

196
Based on response in use of eight online marketplaces: Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, Vinted, Depop,
Vestaire Collective, Shpock and Poshmark
197
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
UK.
198
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Measurement Service, (BG) eBay, May 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
199
Ipsos iris does not report on Facebook Marketplace as it is encompassed within the overall Facebook
platform.
200
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
UK.
201
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Measurement Service, (BG) eBay, Vinted, Etsy and Depop, May 2022/2023/2024,
age: 18+, UK internet users.
202
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
UK.
75
Figure 54: UK top five online marketplaces and activities undertaken, internet users aged 16+: Q2
2024

Activities undertaken on marketplace as proportion of all UK

internet users aged 16+
UK online
I have
16+ who said I have I have
Online I have posted interacted/
they used browsed the purchased
marketplace items for sale chatted with a
service in Q2 service items
buyer/seller
2024

Ebay 57% 45% 14% 35% 15%

Facebook
40% 34% 14% 11% 13%
Marketplace

Etsy 36% 29% 2% 18% 7%

Vinted 31% 24% 15% 17% 14%

Depop 10% 7% 3% 3% 3%
Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 11: Thinking about the past three months (i.e. since the start of April)... Which, if any, of the following
activities have you taken part in on the listed online marketplaces during this time? (Please select all that
apply). Responses for Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark, and Shpock not shown. ‘Something else’ responses not
shown. Base: UK internet users age: 16+ (2100).

Cloud storage
Cloud storage services allow users to store digital content, such as documents, photos and other
images and videos online. The content is transferred and accessible via the internet. Users can share
access to the digital content with others through weblinks (such as unique URLs or hyperlinks) that
lead directly to the content, or by inviting other users to access the content. Some services allow
users to edit digital content in real time alongside other users. Some services employ subscription
models to generate revenue, while others use online advertising.

Fifty-seven per cent of UK internet users aged 16+ said they

had used a cloud storage service in the past week
Ofcom’s survey conducted on 2-3 July 2024 found that 57% of UK internet users aged 16+ said they
had used a cloud storage service in the past week. Younger people were more likely than older
adults to have done this (16-24: 81% vs 55+: 36%). Overall, 77% said they had used a cloud storage
service in the past year. Google Drive was the most popular service, used by half of UK internet users
aged 16+ in the past year (see Figure 56). Most of those using Google Drive used it for personal
reasons (78%), followed by 27% for work and 14% for study; 43% of 16-24-year-olds who used
Google Drive used it for reasons related to study. Microsoft OneDrive was equally likely to be used
for work or study with 51% saying they had used it for work in the past year and 51% for study. Most

76
 (92%) Apple iCloud users had used the service for personal reasons the past year, while 8% said they
used it for work and 5% for study. 203

Figures 55: UK internet users aged 16+ who used a cloud storage service in the past year (July 2023
- June 2024)

Age: 16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

UK internet users who have

used a cloud storage service 77% 95% 90% 84% 79% 61%
in the past year
Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 1: Which, if any, of the following statements best describes when you last used each of the listed
cloud storage services? Those who selected in the past week/in the past month/in the past year. Base: UK
internet users age: 16+ (2100).

Figures 56: UK internet users aged 16+ who have used selected cloud storage services in the past
year: July 2023 – June 2024

16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-55 55+

80%

68% 67%
62%
59% 58%
54%
50% 50% 50%
47%
45%

38% 37%38%
32%
29% 30%
26% 25% 24% 25%
20% 19%
17% 19% 18%
15% 14%13% 15% 15%
13% 14% 14% 13% 12% 11% 13%
10% 10%
6% 6% 5%
4% 4% 4%
3% 1% 3% 4% 4% 2% 1%

Google Drive Microsoft OneDrive Apple iCloud Dropbox Amazon Photos WeTransfer Mega BT Cloud Box

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 1: Which, if any, of the following statements best describes when you last used each of the listed
cloud storage services? Those who selected in the past week/in the past month/in the past year. Base: UK
internet users age: 16+ (2100).

Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
203

UK.
77
Three in ten Google Drive users have shared content or
weblinks from Google Drive with others in the past year
File storage was the most popular reason for using cloud storage services across all our surveyed
cloud storage services except for WeTransfer, the online file transfer service, on which,
unsurprisingly, the most-used functionality was sharing content or weblinks with others (64%).
Collaborating on shared files was the second most popular functionality cited by Microsoft OneDrive
users (37%), the highest user proportion to cite this functionality across all the cloud storage services
surveyed. 204

Figure 57: Features and functionalities of selected cloud storage services used by UK internet users
aged 16+ (July 2023 – June 2024)

Among those who used service in the past year

UK
internet Cloud file Sharing Commenting
Collaborating
users storage (e.g. content on or reacting
on shared files
aged 16+ documents, and/or to content
(e.g. editing
who have photos and weblinks with shared by
documents)
used videos) others others
service

Google Drive 50% 77% 30% 11% 30%

Microsoft
47% 75% 32% 15% 37%
OneDrive

Apple iCloud 38% 88% 11% 7% 8%

Dropbox 20% 57% 40% 9% 16%

Amazon
15% 73% 14% 11% 8%
Photos

WeTransfer 12% 18% 64% 10% 16%

Mega 6% 42% 36% 21% 18%

BT Cloud 6% 45% 30% 26% 16%

Box 5% 40% 38% 29% 33%

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Question 3: What features and functionalities do you typically use? Responses for ‘some other feature or
functionality’ not shown. ‘Don’t know’ responses also not shown. Base: UK internet users age 16+ who have
used selected cloud storage services in past 12 months (96-1028).

Apple iCloud+ is the most popular paid cloud storage service

subscribed to by UK households
A quarter (26%) of UK internet users aged 16+ said their household had access to a paid Apple iCloud
subscription. The most popular Apple iCloud subscription is the paid Apple iCloud+ 50GB of storage

Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
204

UK.
78
tier, cited by 15% of UK internet users aged 16+, followed by the free 5GB tier (9%), the 200GB tier
(8%) and the 2TB tier (3%). 205 Google’s free 15GB cloud storage tier was the most popular Google
subscription, cited by 22%, followed by the basic 100GB tier (9%) and the Google subscription
provided by work or educational institutions (4%). Microsoft OneDrive access was the most likely to
be provided by work or educational institutions (14%), followed by the free 5GB version (12%) and
then the Microsoft 365 Basic (100GB) or Personal (1TB) tiers, both cited by 5% of UK internet users
aged 16+. 206

Figure 58: UK internet users aged 16+ reporting that their household has access to a cloud storage
subscription service

Apple iCloud(+) Google OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive

Any subscription (free or paid) 36% 40% 39%

Any paid subscription 26% 14% 13%

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024.
Questions 4-6: Which, if any, of the following [cloud storage service] subscriptions that allow access to
additional storage and features, do you or anyone else in your household currently have access to? Base: UK
internet users age: 16+ (2100).

205
Other tiers also included in survey, each cited by less than 0.5%. See Ofcom, Online research panel poll:
Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+, UK.
206
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces, July 2024, age: 16+,
UK.
79
5. The online experience
Introduction
This chapter looks at adults' and children’s experiences of being online and focuses both on the
positive and beneficial experiences people have, and on the potentially harmful content or
behaviour they encounter. Where possible, the chapter examines adults’ and children’s online
experiences separately. 207

A note on research methodology and terminology regarding ‘potential harms’

Although being online provides adults and children with many benefits, the online environment also
has the potential to expose internet users to harm. Not all occurrences of potentially harmful
content or behaviour online result in actual psychological (or financial) harm, so in this chapter they
are referred to as ‘potential harms’.
The data relating to type and prevalence of potential harm refers to responses from internet users
encountering a ‘potential harm’ in the four weeks before completing Ofcom’s Online Experiences
Tracker (OET) survey. Further OET data relating to the location and impact of, and response to a
potential harm relate to the ‘most recently encountered potential harm’, indicating the most recent
potentially harmful content encountered by respondents in the four weeks before completing the
survey. To capture this data, survey respondents are prompted with a list of potential harms, and
their responses are based on their recall and judgement of the content and behaviours which they
consider align with those listed in the questionnaire.
The list of harms in the OET questionnaire covers content that is potentially harmful to children,
falling within the scope of the Online Safety Act, and also extends to other types of content and
behaviour, in order to capture a wider range of experiences online. 208 The data is also based on
users’ own categorisations of platform type, so reference to platform type in this chapter may not
align with the categorisation of platform type referenced in the earlier chapters or within the Online
Safety Act. Differences explored among subgroups, compared to the average internet user or total,
refers to UK internet users aged 13+. Unless otherwise stated, the data has been significance tested
at a 95% or 99% confidence interval.
In addition to data collected from the OET, we include data from Ofcom’s Video Sharing Platforms
(VSP) Tracker, which explored awareness of platform ‘rules’, and users’ expectations about the
online content and behaviour they encounter. 209

207
Unless referenced otherwise, the figures cited throughout this chapter are from our OET data. The data are
referred to as follows: June 2023 (published Oct 2023); January 2024 (published April 2024) and June 2024
(published October 2024). Publication dates differ, so in this report we refer to the date when the fieldwork for
each wave was carried out.
208
A full list of potential harms used to prompt participants can be found in the questionnaire.
209
Please note, when we refer to potential harms for the VSP tracker data, this is defined within our survey as
videos that are perceived by users as ‘violent, abusive or inappropriate.’
80
The benefits and drawbacks of the internet
In June 2024, two-thirds of adults believed the benefits of
being online outweighed the risks, although the proportion
was declining
Ofcom’s OET found that, when asked to consider the impact of being online, the majority (67%) of
adult internet users agreed that for them personally, the benefits of being online outweighed the
risks, with just 7% disagreeing. Although the majority recognised the benefits, the proportion doing
so had decreased since the previous two waves of the tracker, from 71% in June 2023 and 68% in
January 2024. Over the past year, users have become increasingly more likely to say they feel
‘neutral’ on the topic (June 2023: 23% vs June 2024: 26%).
Certain demographic groups of adults were less likely than the average to say that the benefits
outweighed the risks; as seen in the June 2024 data this includes women (65%), 18-24-year-olds
(59%), age 65+ (64%), C2DE (62%) and those from minority ethnic groups (62%). Only half of adults
who identify as Muslim thought the benefits outweighed the risks – the lowest proportion of any
demographic group where data was available. Young adults (11%) and minority ethnic (10%) groups
were also more likely than average to believe the risks outweighed the benefits.
Figure 59: Adults’ attitudes towards the personal benefits and risks of going online: ‘The benefits
of going online outweigh the risks’ vs. ‘For me personally, the risks of going online outweigh the
benefits’: June 2024

Benefits outweigh Risks outweigh

Demographic groups Neutral
risks benefits
Total Adults age 18+ 67% 26% 7%
Women 65% 28% 7%
Gender
Men 70% 23% 7%
18-24 59% 29% 11%
25-34 70% 22% 8%
35-44 72% 23% 5%
Age
45-54 69% 26% 5%
55-64 67% 28% 5%
65+ 64% 29% 7%
Socio-economic ABC1 71% 22% 6%
group (SEG) C2DE 62% 31% 7%
White 70% 24% 5%
Ethnicity
Minority ethnic 62% 29% 10%
Heterosexual 67% 26% 7%
Sexual orientation Gay or lesbian 78% 19% 4%
Bisexual 75% 20% 5%
Any limiting or Yes 66% 27% 7%
impacting condition No 70% 24% 6%

Sig greater than total at 95% confidence Sig lower than total at 95% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q1. ‘For me personally, the benefits of going online outweigh
the risks’ vs. ‘For me personally, the risks of going online outweigh the benefits’ Base: UK internet users, aged
18+ (7280).

81
Most adult internet users felt they had a good balance between
their online and offline lives, yet many still had strategies in
place for managing the amount of time that they spend online
In June 2024, Ofcom’s OET survey found that 67% of adult internet users felt they had a good
balance between their online and offline lives, with this proportion remaining stable year on year
(June 2023: 67%). Despite the majority feeling that they had a good balance between their online
and offline lives, our Adult Media Literacy survey found that more than two-thirds (68%) of adult
users had strategies in place for managing their online time and wellbeing: 27% of adults set aside
time for themselves when they are not online, 26% of adults disable notifications on devices or use
‘do not disturb’, and 21% of adults chose not to take devices such as phones and tablets to bed with
them. 210
Although a small proportion of adult users felt that they did not have a good balance between their
online and offline lives (14%), young adults were more likely to disagree than older adults (18-24
year olds: 21% vs 55+: 7%). Young adults’ concerns may be linked to their social media use: Ofcom’s
Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker found that 48% of social media-using 16-24-year-olds thought they
spent too much time on social media compared to just 8% of those aged 65+ (all 16+: 28%). 211

Almost half of children aged 8-15 were worried about how

much time they spent online
Ofcom’s screentime poll conducted in March 2024 found that 43% of children aged 8-15 in Great
Britain said they had tried to spend less time online on at least one type of online app or service,
directly reflecting the 44% of 8-15-year-olds who said they were concerned about how much time
they spent on at least one type of service online. 212
Children’s concerns about time spent online increased with age, with 35% of 8-9-year-olds, 46% of
10-12-year-olds, and 51% of 13-15-year-olds reporting concern about how much time they spent on
at least one service type. The online services that 8-15-year-old users were particularly concerned
about were video-sharing platforms (VSPs, 23%), online games (23%), and social media (20%). 213
When asked why they were concerned about spending too much time online, most children said the
mental (49%) and physical (46%) health effects of spending time online, followed by concerns about
homework (38%), and relationships with their family members (29%). 214
Boys in Great Britain were more likely than girls to be concerned about spending too much time
gaming (25% vs 20%); and were also more likely to have tried to reduce time spent gaming (23% vs
16%). Of those children who said they had tried to reduce time spent on at least one service type,
15% said they had never been successful. The most selected reason for why it was difficult to reduce
time spent was they ‘felt like [they were] missing out’ (53%), followed by wanting to ‘stay connected
with friends and family’ (35%), and they ‘needed to find out information about something’ (23%).
Almost half (46%) of the children reported that they had received a notification prompting them to
log back in. 215

210
Ofcom, Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023.
211
Ofcom, Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023.
212
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Children’s screentime, March 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
213
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Children’s screentime, March 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
214
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Children’s screentime, March 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
215
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Children’s screentime, March 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
82
Being online was seen to provide a wide range of personal
opportunities for internet users, and gave some a voice they
felt they may not have offline
Ofcom’s research showed how being online can provide adults with opportunities for connection,
education, entertainment and creativity. Seven in ten adults (72%) agreed that being online had
helped them to learn a new skill, and 77% agreed that being online had helped them broaden their
understanding or view of the world. 216
For children, access to the online world provides opportunities for socialising and connecting with
their friends. For example, 81% of all 3-17-year-olds used apps for messaging and voice/video calls,
indicating a strong affinity for interacting with others online. For children aged 12-17, other benefits
reported included helping them with school/homework (80%), finding useful information about any
problems they may have (59%) and learning a new skill (52%). 217
Further to this, 40% of internet users aged 13+ in June 2024 said they can ‘share their opinions and
have a voice’ more easily or effectively online than offline, up from 37% in June 2023. Demographic
groups particularly likely to agree with this were children aged 13-17 (50%), adults aged 18-24 (54%)
and 25-34s (47%), minority ethnic (54%), Muslims (53%) and those with a limiting or impacting
condition (44%). Men (44%) were more likely to agree with this statement than women (36%).
In addition, more users agreed that they ‘feel more free to be themselves online’ at 32% in June 2024
compared to 28% in June 2023; and more users (34%) said that being online had a ‘positive overall
effect on their mental health’ compared to June 2023 (32%).

Although most users felt that the benefits outweighed the

risks for them personally, only 40% agreed that the internet is
good for society
While two-thirds (67%) of adult internet users said the benefits of being online outweighed the risks
for them personally, only two-fifths (40%) agreed with the statement that the internet is ‘good for
society’. A minority (15%) said that the internet is ‘damaging society’ and 45% said they felt neutral
on the subject.
Male users were more likely than female users to say the internet is good for society, minority ethnic
more likely than white, and those with a limiting or impacting condition more likely than those
without.

216
Ofcom, Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023.
217
Ofcom, Children and Parents: media use and attitudes report, 2024.
83
Figure 60: Online adults’ attitudes towards the positives and negatives of the internet for society:
‘The internet is good for society’ vs. ‘The internet is damaging to society’ by demographic: June
2024

Internet is good for Internet is

Demographic groups Neutral
society damaging society
Total Adults 18+ 40% 45% 15%
Women 34% 50% 16%
Gender
Men 47% 39% 14%
18-24 39% 43% 19%
25-34 43% 42% 14%
35-44 40% 45% 16%
Age
45-54 40% 45% 15%
55-64 37% 47% 16%
65+ 39% 46% 15%
Socio-Economic ABC1 42% 44% 14%
Group (SEG) C2DE 36% 46% 18%
White 39% 45% 16%
Ethnicity
Minority ethnic 42% 43% 15%
Heterosexual 40% 45% 15%
Sexual orientation Gay or lesbian 49% 38% 12%
Bisexual 43% 43% 14%
Limiting or Yes 36% 47% 18%
impacting condition No 43% 43% 14%
Sig greater than total at 95% confidence Sig lower than total at 95% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q1. ‘The internet is good for society vs. The internet is
damaging to society.’ Base: UK internet users, aged 18+ (7280).

There are high levels of concern about online harms, with

concern levels higher among women than men
In June 2024, 97% of adult users were concerned about at least one of the online harms that we
asked them about, in line with June 2023 (97%) and January 2023 (96%). Online teens aged 13-17
(90%) were less likely to be concerned about potential harms online compared to those aged 18+
(97%), though online teens were not shown codes for some of the most serious potential harms
online. 218 Women tended to be more concerned than men (98% vs 97%), and teenage girls tended to
be more concerned than teenage boys (94% vs 86%).
In June 2024, adult users were most concerned about child sexual abuse content. Between June
2023 and June 2024, concern about these potential harms remained relatively consistent, but in
June 2024 adult women were significantly more concerned than men about some potential online
harms, particularly extremism (87% vs 77%), human trafficking (86% vs 76%), suicide content (86%
vs 77%), female genital mutilation content (85% vs 74%) and hateful or offensive content (83% vs

Child respondents to the OET are not shown the following response codes: Content depicting the sexual
218

abuse […] of children; Promotion of female genital mutilation; Content which advertises prostitution […];
Content facilitating human trafficking.
84
 67%). There were no specific online harms where concern levels were higher for men than for
women.
Suicide remained a major concern for users aged 13-17, with 70% concerned in June 2024, up from
64% in January. Concerns about threats to share, or the sharing of intimate images (64%), and
extremism (63%) had also increased among 13-17-year-olds compared to January 2024 (53% for
both). In June 2024, girls aged 13-17 were significantly more likely to be concerned about a number
of potential online harms than boys of the same age, including sexual or pornographic content (67%
vs 48%), misogynistic content (60% vs 51%), content depicting violence or injury (64% vs 52%),
content promoting self-harm (75% vs 59%), and content promoting excessive or unhealthy
dieting/exercise (51% vs 37%). Boys of the same age were less likely to be concerned about most of
the harms listed, and significantly less so for those listed above.

Figure 61: The five potential harms with the highest levels of concern among online adults and 13-
17s, based on the percentage who rated their concern level as 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale.

Jun Jan Jun Children’s (13-17) Jun Jan Jun

Adults’ concerns, top 5
2023 2024 2024 concerns, top 5 2023 2024 2024

Content depicting the

Content promoting
sexual abuse or 89% 87% 88% 66% 64% 70%
suicide
exploitation of children
Content encouraging Content depicting animal
82% 80% 81% 67% 64% 68%
extremism cruelty
Content facilitating human Content promoting self-
81% 80% 81% 61% 61% 67%
trafficking harm

Content promoting suicide 80% 79% 81% Persistent bullying online 60% 62% 65%

Content depicting animal Hateful, offensive or

80% 77% 79% 60% 56% 61%
cruelty discriminatory content
Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2023 Q7. Below is a list of things that someone may come across on
the internet. Please tell me on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means ‘mildly concerned’ and 5 means ‘very
concerned’, A net was created combining 4 and 5 to demonstrate high concern. Base: UK internet users 18+
(June 2023: 13205, January 2024: 7068, June 2024: 7280) and 13-17s (June 2023: 976, January 2024: 543, June
2024: 557).

Internet users’ encounters with potential harm online

More internet users spontaneously claimed to have recently
seen something upsetting online, compared to the previous
year
In June 2024 three in ten (30%) UK internet users aged 13+ said they had seen something
(unspecified at this stage in the survey) in the last four weeks that made them feel uncomfortable,
upset or negative, a 3pp increase since June 2023 (27%). When examining differences within groups
of users, we found that 18-24-year-old users (45%) were more likely to say this than most other age
groups; and minority ethnic individuals (38%) were 10pp more likely than white internet users (28%).

85
 Similarly, those identifying as LGB+ 219 (48%) were 20pp more likely than heterosexuals to say this
(28%).
The higher amount of time users aged 13+ said they spent online per week (outside of work or
school), the more likely they were to say that they saw something uncomfortable, upsetting or
negative online. High volume users, (saying they spent above 23 hours online a week), were
significantly more likely (35%) than medium volume users (6-22 hours, 29%) and low volume users
(less than 6 hours, 24%), to have encountered something upsetting or negative online in the last four
weeks.

Figure 62: Proportion of UK users who had encountered something uncomfortable, upsetting or
negative online in the last four weeks, by demographic

June 2023 January 2024 June 2024

39% 38%
36%
32% 32%
29% 30% 30% 31%
28% 28% 28%
27% 27% 26%27% 25% 26% 26% 26%
23% 23%
20%21% 19% 20%
15%

13+ 13-17 Adults (18+) Men Women Boys 13-17 Girls 13-17 White 13+ Minority Ethnic 13+
Sig. greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig. lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence

Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q6a Thinking back over the last 4 weeks, did you come across
anything on the internet that made you feel uncomfortable, upset or negative in any way? Base: UK internet
users 13+ (June 2023: 14181, January 2024: 7611, June 2024:7837).

Although there have been year-on-year increases across most age groups in those reporting seeing
something upsetting or negative online, child users aged 13-17 generally report this at lower levels
(20% in June 2023; 23% in June 2024) than adult users (27% in June 2023; 31% in June 2024). In
particular, boys aged 13-17 were the group least likely to say they had seen something upsetting or
negative, at 20% in June 2024, although the proportion of boys saying this increased 5pp year-on-
year (June 2023: 15%). By comparison, in June 2024 26% of girls said they saw something upsetting
or negative, remaining stable year-on-year (June 2023: 25%). Teen users with limiting and impacting
conditions, including mental health conditions, were particularly likely to say they had seen
something upsetting or negative, at 32% (no limited and impacting condition: 19%).

219
Note: This group is a NET of sexual orientation codes, including lesbian, gay and bisexual, and does not
cover gender identity.
86
 The proportion of users (68%) who had seen at least one or
more harms from a list of 47 potential harms remained the
same as in previous surveys
Moving from claimed encounters with unspecified ‘uncomfortable, upsetting or negative’ potential
harms to claimed encounters with any potential online harms from a list of 47, in June 2024 68% of
users aged 13+ said they had encountered at least one potential harm in the past four weeks, the
same proportion as reported in June 2023 and in January 2024. Users aged 13+ in Scotland were
more likely to say they saw potentially harmful online content or behaviour online (71%) compared
to 68% in England, 68% in Wales and 66% in Northern Ireland.
Although there was little difference between adults and children overall (69% vs 68%), as adult age
increases, the likelihood of coming across potential harm online decreases (18-24: 80%, 25-34: 78%
65+: 55%), which in part may be due to younger adults spending more time online compared to
older adults (as discussed in the Online Landscape chapter).
Figure 63: Proportion of UK internet users who had encountered any of a list of potential harms
online in the past 4 weeks by demographic: June 2024

84%
80% 81%
78% 78%
72% 73% 71%
68% 69% 68% 69% 67%
64% 66% 66% 66%
61%
55%

Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence

Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q8 Which, if any, of the following have you seen or
experienced online in the last 4 weeks? This includes any images, videos, audio or text, either comments, posts
or messages you have seen and/or those shared directly to you. Please select all that apply. Base: UK internet
users 13+ (June 2023: 14181, January 2024: 7611, June 2024:7837).

87
Against the backdrop of geopolitical events, internet users are
more likely to encounter hateful, offensive or discriminatory
content online
Adult users were increasingly reporting seeing hateful, offensive or discriminatory content, this
becoming the fifth most encountered harm (26%) in June 2024, overtaking trolling (22%). There was
a small year-on-year rise in content depicting or encouraging violence +2pp (to 11%) by June 2024
and content encouraging extremism +4pp (9%) being encountered by adult users. Encounters with
the other most prevalent potential harms by adult users either remained stable or declined since
June 2023. No potential online harm encountered decreased by more than 2pp year on year. 220
Figure 64: Proportion of UK online adults who encountered the ten most prevalent potential
online harms, ranked in order of June 2024 data
Potential harm June 2023 January 2024 June 2024
Misinformation 39% 37% 39%
Generally offensive or ‘bad’ language 36% 34% 35%
Scams, fraud or phishing 36% 34% 34%
Unwelcome friend or follow requests 30% 27% 28%
Hateful, offensive or discriminatory content 23% 24% 26%
Trolling 23% 21% 22%
Misogynistic content 22% 22% 22%
Fake or deceptive images/videos 18% 16% 18%
Content stigmatizing certain body types - 16% 18%
Paid for or sponsored content not marked as such 17% 16% 18%

Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q8 Which, if any, of the following have you seen or
experienced online in the last 4 weeks? Base: UK internet users 18+ (June 2023: 13205, January 2024: 7068,
June 2024:7280). The OET prompted participants with a list of 47 harms, this table shows the top 10.

When comparing encounters with the ten most prevalent potential harms by gender, we found that
men were more likely than women to encounter misinformation, scams or fraud, hateful content,
fake or deceptive content or paid for/sponsored content, whereas women were more likely than
men to report experiencing unwelcome friend or follow requests, misogynistic content and body
image related content.

220
Please note: fieldwork was conducted before the summer 2024 riots had taken place across the UK. Other
events such as the wars between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Gaza, were ongoing during fieldwork for
the January 2024 and June 2024 surveys.
88
Figure 65: Proportion of adult users who had encountered the ten most prevalent potential online
harms by gender: June 2024

Potential harm Men Women

Misinformation 41% 37%

Generally offensive or ‘bad’ language 35% 34%
Scams, fraud or phishing 36% 31%
Unwelcome friend or follow requests 26% 30%
Hateful content 27% 24%
Trolling 21% 22%
Misogynistic content 19% 23%
Fake or deceptive images/videos 20% 16%
Content stigmatizing certain body types 13% 21%
Paid for or sponsored content not marked as such 19% 15%
Sig greater than men/women at 95% confidence Sig lower than men/women at 95% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q8 Which, if any, of the following have you seen or
experienced online in the last 4 weeks? Base: UK internet users 18+ (men: 3442, women: 3717). The OET
prompted participants with a list of 47 harms, this table shows the top 10 by incidence.

Twenty-two per cent of 8–17-year-olds with a social media

profile had an adult user age, increasing their potential
exposure to harm
Ofcom’s ‘User Age’ research conducted in August 2024 found that 22% of 8–17-year-olds (and 20%
of 8-15s) with a social media profile on at least one of the platforms listed in our study, had a user
profile age of at least 18, meaning they are at greater risk of seeing adult content; this remained
consistent with data from February 2024 and September 2023 (8-17: 21% and 22%, 8-15: 20% for
both). The research also estimated that a third (36%) of children aged 8-15, with a social media
profile on at least one of the listed platforms, had a user/profile age of at least 16, again, this was
consistent with the same research conducted in February 2024 and September 2023 (35% and 34%
respectively). 221
Boys aged 8-17 were more likely than girls in the same age group to have a user age of at least 18
(25% vs 19%). Among children aged 8-15, boys and girls were equally likely to have a user age of 16+
(37% and 36%). 222
Children with a user/profile age of 16+ or 18+ may be exposed to features or functionalities on their
social media profile that platform policies restrict to 18+ users, such as direct messaging from
strangers or having the ability to see adult content, thereby potentially exposing them to harm
online. Although the proportion of children with a user age of 16+ or 18+ remained consistent
between September 2023, February 2024 and August 2024, when compared to September 2023,
children aged 8-17 in August 2024 were more likely to say that they had been asked to verify their
date of birth on their profile on several online services (including Facebook: 10% vs 25%, Instagram:

221
Ofcom, Children’s User Age, September 2023 and February 2024, August 2024.
222
Ofcom, Children’s User Age, September 2023 and February 2024, August 2024.
89
9% vs 18%, Snapchat: 8% vs 14%, TikTok: 13% vs 19%, X/Twitter: 10% vs 20% and YouTube: 10% vs
14%). 223

Teenagers overall were less likely than adults to report seeing

or experiencing most types of listed potential harms online
In June 2024, ‘generally offensive or 'bad' language’ remained the most likely potential harm which
child users aged 13-17 said they had encountered (35%), although this was down by 12pp from the
previous year (47%). Users aged 13-17 were less likely than adult users to report experiencing most
types of listed potential harm, with the exception of ‘intentional harassment’ during gaming, e.g.
‘griefing’ (9%); content promoting self-harm (7%), and content promoting suicide (6%), compared
with adults (5%, 4% and 3% respectively).
There were also a number of harm types shown exclusively to the teenagers in the research: content
showing dangerous stunts or online challenges (24%); content encouraging gambling (22%); content
advertising alcohol or cigarettes (17%); sexual or pornographic content (14%) and content that
promotes and/or encourages children to eat or ingest harmful substances such as bleach or
detergent (6%). Hateful content ranked outside the ten most prevalent harms (11th) for teenagers,
with 17% seeing or encountering this in June 2024, decreasing from 21% the previous year.
The potential harms which showed the greatest changes since the previous year, after ‘generally
offensive or 'bad' language’, included: content showing dangerous stunts or challenges (24%, down
from 30% in June 2023); content which advertised alcohol or cigarettes (down 5pp to 17%);
sexual/pornographic content ( down 4pp to 14%) and content relating to eating disorders (down 4pp
to 11%). There were no online harms that increased year on year by more than 2pp.

Figure 66: Proportion of UK child users aged 13-17 who had encountered the ten most prevalent
potential harms online, ranked by June 2024 data

Potential harm (Children 13-17) June 2023 January 2024 June 2024

Generally offensive or ‘bad’ language 47% 40% 35%

Misinformation 34% 31% 33%
Unwelcome friend or follow requests 30% 31% 27%
Content showing dangerous stunts 30% 23% 24%
Scams, fraud or phishing 25% 19% 24%
Content encouraging gambling 25% 26% 22%
Trolling 23% 22% 21%
Misogynistic content 22% 23% 18%
Fake or deceptive images/videos 16% 17% 18%
Content stigmatizing certain body types -- 20% 18%

Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q8 Which, if any, of the following have you seen or
experienced online in the last 4 weeks? Base: UK internet users 13-17 (557). The OET prompted child
participants with a list of 44 harms; this table shows the top ten.

223
Ofcom, Children’s User Age, September 2023 and February 2024, August 2024.

90
Encounters with potential online harms relating to body image
were particularly prevalent among teen girls
When we compared boys and girls for each of the harms, we found that boys aged 13-17 were more
likely than girls to encounter content showing dangerous stunts (29% vs 19%). Conversely, girls aged
13-17 were more likely than boys to report having encountered unwelcome friend or follow
requests (33% vs 21%), misogynistic content (23% vs 14%), content stigmatizing certain body types
(25% vs 11%), content promoting excessive or unhealthy eating/exercise (19% vs 9%), group
shaming (19% vs 10%) and content relating to eating disorders (17% vs 5% boys 13-17).

Figure 67: Proportion of child users aged 13-17 who had encountered the ten most prevalent
potential harms online, by gender: June 2024

Potential Harm (children aged 13-17) Boys Girls

Generally offensive or ‘bad’ language 34% 37%
Misinformation 31% 35%
Unwelcome friend or follow requests 21% 33%
Content showing dangerous stunts 29% 19%
Scams, fraud or phishing 24% 23%
Content encouraging gambling 25% 19%
Trolling 18% 23%
Misogynistic content 14% 23%
Fake or deceptive images/videos 17% 19%
Content stigmatizing certain body types 11% 25%
Sig greater than boys/girls at 95% confidence Sig lower than boys/girls at 95% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q8 Which, if any, of the following have you seen or
experienced online in the past four weeks? Base: UK internet users 13-17 (Boys: 290, Girls: 261). The OET
prompted participants with a list of 44 harms; this table shows the top ten.

Women and girls, those from minority ethnic backgrounds,

LGB+ adults and those with mental health conditions were
more likely to be adversely impacted by potentially harmful
content online
In June 2024, 24% of users aged 13+ were ‘really bothered or extremely offended’ by their most
recent encounter of any specified potential harm online, continuing the trend of small increases
from the previous two waves of tracking (23% in January 2024, 22% in June 2023). Those aged 13-17
were less likely to say they were really bothered or extremely offended than those aged 18+ (17% vs
25%). In particular, girls aged 13-17 and women were more likely to be really bothered (24% and
29%) than boys aged 13-17 and men (11% and 19% respectively). Those from minority ethnic groups
(30%), Jewish people (49%), people with limiting and impacting conditions (27%) and LGB+ people
(29%) were also more likely than the total group of users (aged 13+) to say they were extremely
offended. There was a 9pp significant increase in impact reported by minority ethnic individuals
from June 2023 (19%) to January 2024 (28%), with the increase continuing to June 2024 (+ 2pp,
30%). For both Muslim and Jewish respondents, January 2024 saw the highest levels of impact upon
encountering potentially harmful content, with 33% and 58% of each group saying they were
extremely offended by their most recent experience.

91
Looking at specific types of harm by incidence level compared with claimed high impact level on
adults, animal cruelty had a very high impact (78%) with a relatively low incidence of 10%. Extremist
content also had a high impact (66%), along with hateful content (61%) but on lower incidence
levels. Harms with a relatively lower impact level but with a higher incidence level included
misinformation (26% impact with 39% incidence) and scams and fraud (21% and 34%).

Figure 68: High psychological impact (score of 3 on a 3-point scale) vs incidence of types of
potential online harms for adult users, June 2024

45%
Misinformation, 26%, 39%
40%
35%
Incidence, % of respondents

Scams, etc, 21%,

30% 34% Hateful content,
61%, 26%
25%
20%
Extremist content,
15% 66%, 9%

10%
Animal cruelty
5% content, 78%, 10%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Impact, % of respondents

Source: Age 18+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q14b We would like you to think again about the last time
you saw or experienced [potential harm]. On a scale of 1 to 3, where ‘1’ means ‘It didn’t bother me at all/It
didn’t offend me’ and ‘3’ means ‘It really bothered me/I found it extremely offensive’, when you last saw or
experienced [potential harm], would you say the content or experience was…(x axis) compared to Q8 Which, if
any, of the following have you seen or experienced online in the last 4 weeks? (y axis). Base: Adults 18+ Q14b
(4613) and Q8 (7280).

Certain harms tended to be influenced by news and world

affairs; others by emerging technology
Users aged 13+ who encountered hate speech, bullying, abusive behaviour or threats were asked
about which groups or characteristics of people in society this targeted. The findings have varied
wave-on-wave, most likely in response to the news and current affairs agenda. In June 2023, users
most frequently (at 41%) identified hateful content as being directed towards transgender people; at
the time, the UK government had recently blocked the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Act, and
news items often discussed transgender peoples’ identities and experiences. 224 The next most
frequent hateful content was directed at sexual orientation at 29%, ethnicity at 25%, women and
girls at 25% and asylum seekers at 23%.
In January 2024, potentially in response to the conflict in Gaza that began in October 2023, 225 hateful
content towards people because of their ethnicity or religion rose sharply for adult users to 36% and

224
Institute for Government, ‘The use of Section 35 of the Scotland Act to block the Gender Recognition
Reform (Scotland) Bill’ 9 October 2023; The Guardian, ‘Rishi Sunak accused of mocking trans people in joke to
Tory MPs’, 19 June 2023.
BBC News, Brianna Ghey: Boy and girl in court charged with murder, 15 February 2023.
225
BBC News, ‘Israel Gaza war: History of the conflict explained’, 5 April 2024.
92
33% respectively from 25% and 16% respectively in June 2023, and correspondingly, hate towards
transgender people and based on sexual orientation decreased to 26% and 17%, respectively.
In June 2024, the proportion of hate towards different groups shifted, with hate towards people due
to ethnicity and religion remaining high (33% and 30%) for adult users. Hate towards gender and
sexual minorities saw small increases from January 2024 (30% and 20%). The rise in hate based on
gender and sexual identities could be linked to fieldwork taking place in June 2024, coinciding with
the 2024 UK General Election, where gender identity was discussed in public debates and news
articles. 226
There were some significant gender differences in encountering hateful content. Women were more
likely, at 26%, to say they had seen hateful content against women and girls, compared to 13% of
men; in contrast, men were more likely to say they had seen hateful content against most other
groups than women. One factor behind this could be personal experience: women and girls were
much more likely to say they had encountered misogynistic online content or language, whereas the
figure was lower for men and boys (23% vs 18%).
Figure 69: Internet users aged 13+ reporting the target of hateful, offensive or discriminatory
content they had encountered
June 2023 January 2024 June 2024

41%
36%
33% 33%
30% 30% 29%
25% 26% 25%
23%
21% 21% 20% 19%
19% 19% 19%
17% 17% 17%
16%
14% 14%
12% 12% 12%
11% 11% 11%

Ethnicity A religious Trans people Women and Sexual Asylum Nationality A political Disabled Non-binary
group girls orientation seekers group people people
(physical or
mental)
Sig. greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig. lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence

Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q13 Which group or characteristic, if any, was the bullying,
abusive behaviour, threats or hate speech you experienced directed towards? This could include bullying,
abusive behaviour, threats or hate speech directed towards you personally. Base: UK internet users 13+ (June
2023: 1162, January 2024: 637, June 2024: 728).

Misinformation was the most prevalent potential harm in June 2024 when taking online adult and
children aged 13+ responses together (39%). Internet users aged 13+ who said they had seen
misinformation in the last four weeks were also asked follow-up questions. With the UK General
Election announced on 22 May 2024, there was a small but significant increase from January to June
2024 of internet users aged 13+ citing political or electoral misinformation (25%, up from 22%).
In January 2024, reports of misinformation about ‘conflict e.g. war’ rose significantly to 21% from 6%
six months’ prior, likely as a result of the war in Gaza which began in October 2023. This proportion
fell in the most recent survey in June 2024, to 16% of respondents, albeit remaining higher than the
number reported in June 2023.
The most prominent source of misinformation encountered by internet users aged 13+ in June 2024
was from ‘Someone I don’t know online e.g. a stranger on social media’ at 44%. This was followed by

226
BBC News, ‘What are the parties saying about women’s rights and gender identity’, 29 June 2024.
93
15% saying they had seen misinformation from ‘a public figure or celebrity or influencer’, 12% saying
‘a media outlet or organisation’, and 10% saying ‘a news organisation or journalist.’

Figure 70: Types of misinformation encountered by internet users aged 13+

June 2023 January 2024 June 2024

Also sig.
greater
than
Jun’23

24% 25%
22% 21%
16% 16%
14%
13%
10% 10%
9% 9% 8%
6% 7% 6% 5%
4%

Political or electoral Conflict e.g. war Discrimination Health Financial e.g. cost of Climate
living

Sig. greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig. lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence

Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker 2024. Q32a1 Which of the options below best describes the
misinformation you saw. Discrimination was phrased in survey as: Discrimination on grounds of gender, age,
sexuality, ethnicity or other 'protected characteristics'. Base: UK internet users 13+ (June 2023: 5567, January
2024: 2800, June 2024: 3051)

Over two in five (43%) UK internet users aged 16+ believed they
had experienced a deepfake in the first half of 2024
The term 'deepfake' usually refers to an AI-generated video, image or piece of audio content that is
designed to mimic a real-life person or scene and may be used to spread false information. Ofcom
commissioned a survey to understand UK internet users’ experience of deepfakes, conducted in June
2024, among UK online people aged 16+ and British online children aged 8-15-year-olds.
Over two in five (43%) UK internet users aged 16+ believed they had encountered a deepfake in the
first half of 2024. The survey also found that as age increased among those aged 16+, the likelihood
of reporting an encounter of a deepfake decreased. Male users aged 16+ were more likely than
females to have come across at least one piece of content they believed to be a deepfake in the first
half of 2024 (51% vs 35%). Overall, few users (9%) felt confident in identifying deepfake content. 227
An Ofcom survey conducted across the UK General Election period in June and July 2024 found that
more than a quarter (27%) of adults believed they had encountered information regarding the
General Election that they felt might have been a deepfake at least once in the past week. Reflecting
the low confidence in recognising deepfakes, 46% of respondents in the survey said they didn’t know
if they had seen one in the past week. Younger people aged 18-24 (39%) were more confident in
their ability to spot deepfakes than all other adult age groups (21% on average) and males were
more confident than females (28% vs 14%). The majority (57%) of adults from our General Election
survey said they were either quite or very concerned about the impact of deepfakes during the
General Election campaign. 228
Users aged 16+ who came across a deepfake reported the top three sources of this content to be
social media (74%), VSP (47%) or on an email (11%). Younger people (16-24: 59%) were more likely
to come across a deepfake on a VSP than older adults, (55+: 38%). While male and female users

227
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
228
Ofcom, UK General Election news and opinion-formation survey 2024, June and July 2024, age: 18+, UK.
94
were equally likely to come across a deepfake on social media (73% and 76% respectively), males
were more likely to come across a deepfake on a VSP (53% vs 39% female). 229

Figure 71: Proportion of UK internet users aged 16+ who came across at least one example of what
they believed to be a deepfake in the last six months

All Male Female

66% 67%

59% 58%
53% 53% 54%
51%
49%
45%
43%
41% 40%
38%
35% 34% 33%
29% 28% 29%
25%

16+ 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Source: Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024. Question 2: Thinking about the past 6 months
(i.e. since December 2023)...How many times, if any, have you encountered content that you suspected to be a
deepfake? Base: UK internet users age: 16+ (2520).

Younger people were more likely to come across humorous,

sexual or educational deepfakes, while older adults were more
likely to come across political or fraudulent ad deepfakes
Deepfake content varies by content form and by content theme. In terms of content form, the type
of deepfake content users 16+ had come across was most commonly an image (68%), a video (60%)
and text (29%). In terms of content themes, almost half (49%) of users aged 16+ who reported
coming across a deepfake, said they saw it relating to a politician or political event, followed by
humorous or satirical deepfake (47%) and fraudulent or scam advertisement (45%). There were
some age and gender differences on content themes, with older adults more likely to come across a
fraudulent or scam advertisement (16-24: 33% vs 55+: 54%), and younger people more likely to
come across humorous or satirical deepfakes (16-24: 52% vs 55+: 40%), educational deepfakes (16+:
14%; 16-24: 25% vs 55+: 6%) and sexual deepfakes (16+: 14%; 16-24: 20% vs 55+: 6%). Male users
aged 16+ were more likely to say they had seen deepfake content that was sexual in nature (19% vs
8%), about a politician or political event (53% vs 44%), or of a humorous or satirical nature (50% vs
42%), compared to female users. 230

Half of child users aged 8-15 in Great Britain also believed they
had encountered a deepfake in the first half of 2024
Older children aged 13-15 were more likely than children aged 8-12 to have come across at least one
deepfake (57% vs 46%) and boys aged 8-15 were slightly more likely than girls of the same age to
come across a deepfake (52% vs 48%). Children claimed to be more confident in identifying a

229
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
230
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024, age: 16+, UK.
95
deepfake than users aged 16+ (20% vs 9% respectively). Boys were more confident (24%) than girls
(16%), and older children aged 13-15 (24%) were more confident than children aged 8-12 (18%). 231
VSPs (54%) were the most likely online service type for British children aged 8-15 to come across a
deepfake, followed by social media (49%) and livestreaming services (16%). Females were more
likely to come across a deepfake on social media (55% vs 45% male). 232
In terms of content form, the type of deepfake content users aged 8-15 had come across was an
image (63%), a video (61%) and text (21%). Children were most likely to come across funny or
satirical deepfakes (58%), followed by scam adverts (32%) or deepfakes relating to a politician or
political event (28%). Boys aged 8-15 were more likely than girls to see deepfake content that was
funny or satirical (62% vs 53%). 233

Platforms and services where potential harms were

encountered
Social media was by far the most likely place to encounter
potential harms
Since tracking began in June 2023, social media has remained the location where the majority (June
2024: 56%) of UK internet users aged 13+ have encountered their most recent harm online. At a
much lower level, there has been an increase in the proportion of those aged 13+ experiencing
potential harms via VSPs in the most recent wave, from 7% in January 2024 to 9% in June 2024.
The proportion of child users aged 13-17 encountering their most recent potential harm on social
media was much lower than for adults, at 38% versus 57% respectively. Child users aged 13-17 were
more likely to encounter the potential harm on VSPs than adults (20% vs. 8%).
Among adult users, there was a decrease in reporting encountering their most recent potential harm
via email, from 12% in June 2023 to 9% in June 2024. Older adults were more likely to report email
as a location than younger people (aged 55+: 17% vs 18-24s: 2% June 2024). Older adults were also
more likely to encounter a potential harm via a news website or app (aged 55+: 7% vs 18-24s: 2%
June 2024). In contrast, those aged 18-24 were more likely to encounter a potential harm via online
dating sites at 2%, compared to 1% for the total group of respondents, although this harm was
reported at a very low level.

231
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
232
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
233
Ofcom, Online research panel poll: Deepfakes, June 2024, age: 8-15, GB.
96
Figure 72: Sites and services where adult and child (13-17) users had their most recent potentially
harmful encounter online

Adults 18+ Children 13-17

Top ten sites where users
encountered harm Jun’ 23 Jan’ 24 Jun’ 24 Jun’23 Jan’24 Jun’24
Social media website or app 57% 56% 57% 35% 35% 38%
Email 12% 11% 9% 3% 2% 3%
VSP 7% 6% 8% 23% 17% 20%
Instant messenger website or app 5% 6% 5% 9% 9% 7%
News website or app 4% 4% 4% 1% 1% 1%
A search engine 2% 2% 2% 2% 3% 4%
An in-game chat / chat room 1% 1% 1% 9% 6% 6%
Online dating websites or apps 234
1% 1% 1% - - -
Gaming platform website or app 1% 1% 1% 6% 11% 9%
Blog website or app 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% 1%

Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence
Source: Age 13+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q21. What type of site or service were you using when
you most recently experienced? Base: Adults 18+ (June 2023: 8414, January 2024: 4444, June 2024: 4613) 13-
17 (June 2023: 634, January 2024: 351, June 2024: 347)

Women were significantly more likely than men to encounter

potential harms on social media platforms and VSPs
Looking at social media and VSPs, 63% and 9% of adult women encountered their most recent
potential harm on these platforms respectively, compared to 52% and 7% of men. Men are
significantly more likely to encounter a potential harm via email, instant messaging sites, news sites,
search engines and blog sites than women.
Users aged 13-17 had comparable experiences in that boys and girls were equally likely to encounter
potential harms on a VSP (18% for girls and 21% for boys), on in-game chat (6% for girls and 7% for
boys) and on video-on-demand sites (2% for girls and 3% for boys). However, boys were more likely
than girls to encounter a potential harm on gaming platforms (12% vs. 5%).

234
Child respondents (13-17) are not shown the code ‘Online dating websites or apps’ at Q21.
97
Figure 73: Sites and services where men and women had their most recent potentially harmful
encounter online

Men Women
Top ten sites where users
Jun’ 23 Jan’ 24 Jun’ 24 Jun’23 Jan’24 Jun’24
encountered harm
Social media website or app 52% 50% 52% 62% 62% 63%
Email 14% 12% 10% 11% 10% 7%
VSP 7% 6% 7% 7% 6% 9%
Instant messenger website or app 4% 6% 6% 5% 5% 5%
News website or app 5% 5% 5% 3% 3% 3%
A search engine 2% 3% 3% 2% 2% 1%
An in-game chat / chat room 1% 1% 2% 0% 0% 1%
Online dating websites or apps** 1% 1% 1% 0% 1% 1%
Gaming platform website or app 1% 1% 1% 0% 1% 1%
Blog website or app 1% 1% 1% 0% 1% 0%
Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence
Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q21. What type of site or service were you using when you most
recently experienced? Base: Adults 18+ (June 2023: 8414, January 2024: 4444, June 2024: 4613)

Three in ten adult users reported encountering their most

recent online potential harm on Facebook, while TikTok and
YouTube were the most likely services for teenagers, at 22%
and 13% respectively
Facebook was the most likely platform for adult users to encounter potential harms on, across all
waves (June 2024: 29%), this was followed by X (June 2024: 18%), which has seen a reduction in
reports over the past year (June 2023: 23%). Older adults were significantly more likely to have
encountered their most recent potential harm on Facebook, (55+: 45% vs. 18-24: 8%) and Facebook
Messenger (55+: 8% vs. 18-24: 4%). This may be because older adults spend more time than younger
adults on Facebook / Messenger (average time spent by Facebook / Messenger visitors aged 55+: 45
minutes vs 18-24s: 18 minutes in June 2024). 235 Users aged 18-24 were more likely to encounter
harm on X (21%), Instagram (20%), TikTok (20%), Snapchat (3%) and Tumblr (1%), and less likely on
Facebook (8%).
Children 13-17 were significantly more likely than adults to encounter their most recent potential
harm on TikTok (22% vs 9%), YouTube (13% vs 4%), Snapchat (7% vs 1%) and WhatsApp (7% vs 2%).
Additionally, 3% of those aged 13-17 said they had encountered their most recent potential harm on
Roblox.

235
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, (BG) Facebook / Messenger, June 2024, age: 18+,
UK internet users. Note: As messenger is part of Facebook’s main site and app, Ipsos iris in unable to report on
each service individually.
98
Figure 74: Nine most reported sites and services where adults and children had their most recent
potentially harmful encounter online

Facebook X Instagram TikTok YouTube Facebook Messenger Reddit WhatsApp Snapchat Google

2% 2%
1% 1% 2%
2% 3% 1%2%
3% 3% 3%
5% 2%
6% 5%
5% 8% 3%
5% 4%
7% 1% 7%
7% 9% 5%
3% 10%
7%
14% 2%
15% 12% 5%
15% 1% 1%
13%
6%

23%
20% 18%
27% 20%
22%

11%
8% 8%
28% 28% 29%
5% 5% 4%

10% 10% 10%

June 2023 January 2024 June 2024 June 2023 January 2024 June 2024
Adults age 18+ Children aged 13-17
Sig. greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig. lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence

Source: Age 13+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q22_Q29 Platforms/apps combined. Base: Adults 18+
(June 2023: 6082, January 2024: 3211, June 2024: 3453), Children 13-17 (June 2023: 473, January 2024: 263,
June 2024: 261)

A correlation between time spent on a particular service and likelihood to encounter potential harm
on that service was also apparent when looking at differences by gender. Women were significantly
more likely than men to have come across their most recent potential harm on Facebook (31% vs
27%), while men were more likely than women to have encountered a potential harm on X (23% vs
14%) – this pattern has been consistent over the past year. According to Ipsos iris data, women on
average spent the most time on Facebook / Messenger compared to men (25 hours 28 minutes vs
men: 18 hours 8 minutes), while most of the time spent on X was by men (5 hours 21 minutes vs
women: 3 hours 32 minutes) in June 2024. 236

236
Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, June 2024, age: 18+, UK internet users.
99
Figure 75: Time spent, and where, most recent harm was encountered, by gender: June 2024

Average time spent by UK adult visitor in June Services where most recent potential harm
2024, by gender (hours:minutes) encountered, by gender

Men Men
Women 27:06 25:38 Women
31%
27% 27%
19:55 23%
18:08
14:51
11:14 10:52 14%
11%
7:28 9%
5:21 6% 6%
3:32 3%

X YouTube Facebook TikTok Instagram X YouTube Facebook TikTok Instagram

Sources: Time spent chart - Ipsos, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, June 2024, age: 18+, UK
internet users. Note time spent across smartphone, tablet and computer only. Harm experience chart - Ofcom,
Online Experiences Tracker, June 2024. Q22_Q29 Platforms/apps combined. Base: (Men 18+: 1557, Women
18+: 1817). The services listed are the top five most-reported services where harm was encountered.

Among 13-17s, comparing the same five services as adults, boys were more likely than girls to come
across a potential harm on YouTube (20% vs 7%), Facebook (12% vs 9%) and X (6% vs 2%), while girls
were more likely to encounter potential harm on TikTok (26% vs 18%) and Instagram (9% vs 5%).
Girls were also more likely than boys to encounter a potential harm on WhatsApp (12% vs 2%) and
Snapchat (9% vs 4%).

Looking more closely at service locations and functionalities,

user feeds were the most likely places to encounter a potential
harm, with differences by gender
For adult users, scrolling through their feed or ‘For You’ page was the most likely place for potential
harm to be encountered (35%), consistent with previous waves. There have been increases in the
proportion of users encountering a potential harm while watching content that was selected for
them by autoplay, from 5% to 6% and then 7% in June 2024, and while watching content they had
chosen to watch, from 8% in June 2023 to 10% in both January and June 2024.
Men were more likely to encounter potential harm while watching content they chose to watch
(12% vs 8% for women), reading articles and reviews (11% vs 7%) and reading emails (10% vs 7%).
Women were more likely to encounter harm while scrolling through their feed or ‘For You’ page
(37% vs 31% for men), and in the comments or replies to a post, article or video (23% vs 21%).
There were also age differences in the ways in which adult users encountered potential harm;
younger adults (18-24, 25-34) were more likely to experience it while scrolling through their feed
(45% and 41%), in the comments (24% for both), or while watching content they had chosen or
which had been recommended (15% and 11%), as well as in private messages (12% and 9%). Older
adults (55+) were more likely to experience it while reading articles and reviews (12%), or emails
(16%), as well as in advertisements (for age 65+ specifically: 8%).

100
For children users aged 13-17, the pattern was similar to adults, except for a higher proportion
experiencing potential harm when watching content they chose to watch (June 2024: 20%), or
content selected for them by autoplay (June 2024: 11%). Children were also significantly more likely
to encounter potential harm in a group chat, or while using the private or direct message function
with more than one other user. Livestreaming was also more likely to be a source of potential harm
for those aged 13-17, at 8%, compared to 3% for adults for recent online harms encountered during
this activity.

Figure 76: Sites and services where adults and child users had their most recent potentially
harmful encounter online

Top ten activities where users encounter harm, Adults 18+ Children 13-17
(based on most recent harm encountered)
Jun 23 Jan 24 Jun 24 Jun 23 Jan 24 Jun 24
Scrolling through your feed / the 'For You’ page 35% 32% 35% 26% 24% 26%
In the comments or replies to a post, article or video 22% 23% 22% 15% 19% 15%
Watching content (you chose to watch) 8% 10% 10% 21% 19% 20%
Reading articles / reviews 9% 9% 9% 6% 8% 6%
Reading emails 12% 11% 8% 3% 2% 3%
Using the private or direct message function with
6% 7% 7% 7% 13% 8%
one other user.
Watching content selected for you by autoplay 5% 6% 7% 9% 6% 11%
In an advertisement* - 6% 6% - 8% 7%
In a group chat / using the private or direct message
3% 4% 4% 17% 14% 14%
function with more than one other user
Sig greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence
Source: Age 13+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q21a. Activity on site when experienced harm. Base:
Adults 18+ (June 2023: 8133, January 2024: 4264, June 2024: 4421), Children 13-17 (June 2023: 597, January
2024: 331, June 2024: 328)

101
Internet users’ response following exposure to
potential harm
Ofcom commissioned research to understand people's experiences of using VSPs, and their attitudes
towards safety measures on these services as part of its duties under the VSP regime. 237 Fieldwork
took place among internet users aged 13+ and was run twice in 2024 – February and August. The
following section draws on findings from this research and Ofcom’s Online Experiences Tracker
(OET).

Half of users aged 13+ said without prompting that they were
aware of any safety measures on the VSPs they used
When asked, without prompting from a list, whether they were aware of safety measures on the
VSPs they had used in the past three months, 50% of users aged 13+ said they were aware, up from
46% in February 2024. Of those who said they were not aware of safety measures on VSPs (50%), the
most-selected reason was because they ‘did not have a reason to look for them’ (48%, consistent
with February 2024: 50%), followed by ‘not believing they needed them’ (August 2024: 35%,
February 2024: 36%). 238
Without being prompted, a higher proportion of male than female users said they were aware of
safety measures (53% vs 48%). When prompted with a list of safety measures and tools, 92% of VSP
users said they were aware of them, the same as in February 2024. Female users were more likely to
be aware than males (94% vs 90%). But as Figure 77 below shows, more male VSP users said they
were aware of a complaints system, age checking systems, tools and information (such as a safety
centre) to help users navigate the VSP safely and prompts to remind users of those tools are
available on the VSP. 239

237
On 26 October 2023, the Online Safety Act (‘the OS Act’) received Royal Assent. The OS Act sets out the
process for repealing the VSP regime which includes how VSPs will move from being regulated under the VSP
regime to being regulated under the OS Act. For more information please refer to our website:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/repeal-of-the-vsp-regime/
238
Ofcom, VSP tracker, February 2024 and August 2024, age: 13+, UK.
239
Ofcom, VSP tracker, February 2024 and August 2024, age: 13+, UK.
102
Figure 77: Proportion of users (aged 13+) who said they were aware of the listed safety measures
on the VSPs they had used in the past three months

Flagging and reporting mechanisms/ buttons 57%60%

63%
54%
Parental controls 53%
54%
52%
Minimum age requirement 50%
55%
52%
A tool to hide content you have seen but do not wish to see again 46%
57%
50%
A complaints system 51%
50%
A notice that flags content that might be inappropriate or harmful before 51%
49%
you view it 53%
Clear terms and conditions or community guidelines about what users 48%
48%
can post 49%
43%
Having clear rules for users on how to post advertising content 43%
44% Total (August 2024)
40%
Clear labelling of what content is advertising 38%
42%
37%
A way to directly report harmful content to a regulator or the police 37% Men/boys
38%
36%
Age checking systems 40%
32%
Tools and information to help you navigate the site or app safely such as 34% Women/girls
35%
a 'safety centre' 33%
Prompts to remind you that tools to help you safely navigate the site or 27%
app are available 25%29%
Source: Ofcom VSP Tracker 2024. Q10. Which of the following rules or safety measures do you think these sites
and apps have in place? Base: VSP users who have used a VSP in the past three months (August 2024: 1114).
The X symbol on the chart represents dummy measures included to assess over-claim.

Two-thirds of users aged 13+ said they took any kind of action
in response to experiencing a potential harm online
In June 2024, 61% of users aged 13+ said they took any kind of action in response to experiencing a
potential harm online in the past four weeks. This is consistent with the previous OET survey in
January 2024 (62%), which saw a 3pp increase in those taking any kind of action since the June 2023
survey (59%). Of this 61%, the most likely action taken by users was to report or flag the offending
content (35%). In June 2024 we found an increase since the previous year in users choosing to
disengage or change their engagement behaviour, at 18% compared to 16% in June 2023.
Ofcom’s VSP tracker in August 2024 found that 51% of VSP users aged 13+ said they had used a
flagging and reporting mechanism in the past, an increase from 42% in February 2024. Of those who
had used reporting and flagging mechanisms, 89% said they would use one again, consistent with
February 2024 (87%). The main reasons users said they would use them again were that they were
easy to use (61%) or easy to find (50%); again, consistent with February 2024 (66% and 56%). 240
Forty-seven per cent of parents, who were aware of flagging and reporting mechanisms, said these
should be made easier for children to use and access, while 9% said they were already easy enough
for children to use and access, similar to February 2024 (50% and 8%). 241

240
Ofcom, VSP tracker, February 2024 and August 2024, age: 13+, UK.
241
Ofcom, VSP tracker, February 2024 and August 2024, age: 13+, UK.
103
Less than a third (27%) of VSP users had used a complaint system 242 in response to potentially
harmful content, and 8% of users found them hard to use or hard to find, similar to February 2024
(at 25% and 9%). 243

Figure 78: User responses to experiencing potential harm in the past four weeks: June 2024

Source: Age 13+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker. Q15. When you saw [potential harm] on that occasion,
which of the following actions did you take, if any? Base: Users 13+ (June 2024: 4960).

Men and young adults were more likely to be aware of some

sort of action taken by the platform following their reporting
of a potential harm
Thirty-eight per cent of adults who chose to report or flag content or activity were aware of the
outcome of their report; an increase on the last two waves of the survey (32% in January 2024, 30%

241
Within our questionnaire we define complaints systems as ‘a complaints system that allows users to
complain about a site's decision, this may be about content that they have reported, or where their account
has been temporarily suspended, for example’. Ofcom, VSP tracker, February 2024 and August 2024, age: 13+,
UK.
243
Ofcom, VSP tracker, February 2024 and August 2024, age: 13+, UK.
104
in June 2023). However, half of adults said ‘nothing yet’ had happened as a result of their
reporting/flagging the most recent harm they had encountered. Twenty-two per cent said they had
seen the offending content removed, marking a 4pp increase since January 2024 (18%), while 9%
had received a written response, an increase from the previous year (June 2023: 6%, +3pp).
18-24-year-olds were the least likely adult group to have heard ‘nothing yet’ in response to their
report (33%). 18-24-year-olds were more likely to say that the content they reported had been
removed (40%) than the total group of adult respondents (22%). Those aged 55+ were less likely
than other groups to say they had seen content removed (16%).
Women were more likely than men to have heard ‘nothing yet’ in response to their report (55% vs
46%) in June 2024. Men were more likely to have received a written response (11% vs women 7%)
and were more likely to be aware of the result of reporting (42% vs 35%). In June 2024, a quarter of
men said that their reported content had been removed, while 18% of women said the same.

Figure 79: Outcome following UK adults reporting a potential harm, by gender: 2023-2024

Adults Men Women Don't know

11% 13% 10%

16% 17% 16% 15% I was asked to provide
17% 19% 5%
5% 4% further information
3% 2% 7% 4% 7% 3% 1% 8%
5% 6% 2% 5% 6% 6%
9% 5% 11% 9% 7%
6% 9% 7% 9% 6% Something else

18% 18% 16% 16% 18%

22% 19% 21% 25%
Received a written
response

The content was

53% 52% 50% 51% 56% 56% 55%
49% 46% removed

Nothing yet

June 2023 January 2024 June 2024 June 2023 January 2024 June 2024 June 2023 January 2024 June 2024
Sig. greater wave-on-wave at 99% confidence Sig. lower wave-on-wave at 99% confidence

Source: Age 18+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q17. You mentioned you reported/complained about the
[potential harm]. What happened as a result? [multi-select response] Base: Adults 18+ (June 2023: 1983,
January 2024: 1044, June 2024: 1033).

Adults’ satisfaction following reporting potential harmful content has been increasing; from 31% in
June 2023 to 40% in June 2024. 244 This may be related to the increase in awareness of the result of
reporting content (e.g. content removal, written response etc), over the same time period, from 30%
in June 2023 to 38% in June 2024.
The proportion of adult users who said that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied decreased
from 32% in June 2023 to 25% in June 2024, while the proportion of those dissatisfied remained
stable, from 37% in June 2023 to 35% in June 2024. Younger adults (18-24s) were more likely to be
satisfied, at 62%, a 29pp increase since June 2023. Again, this may be connected to this group’s
increase in awareness of the result of reporting content, from 40% in June 2023 to 56% in June 2024.
Older adults were less likely to say they were satisfied, at just 38% of those aged 55+. Both men and
women experienced increases in satisfaction, but men were more likely than women to be satisfied
with the outcome of their reporting (June 2024: 44% vs 37%, June 2023: 41% vs 32%).

244
Satisfaction here refers to a NET of ‘somewhat satisfied’ and ‘very satisfied’ in response to Q18 of the OET.
105
Most of the adults who didn’t take action didn’t consider the
potential harm serious or harmful enough
Thirty-nine per cent of adults said they took no action in response to their most recently
encountered potential harm; in the main, this was because they didn’t think the content they
encountered was serious or harmful enough (44%). This marks a 5pp decrease from previous waves.
Older adults aged 55+ were the most likely group to say that they didn’t like the content but didn’t
consider it serious enough to do something about (24%). 18-24-year-olds were more likely to say
that they ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to take any action (23%). Men were more likely than women to say
that they ‘didn’t see the need to do anything’ (30% vs 19%).

Figure 80: Reasons why adults did not take any action when they came across a potential harm
online: 2023-2024

June 2023 January 2024 June 2024

27%
I didn't see the need to do anything 24%
24%
20%
I wasn't directly impacted 21%
20%
20%
I didn't think it made a difference 19%
20%

I didn't consider it to be offensive, disturbing or 19%

22%
harmful 17%
12%
I couldn't be bothered 13%
15%

I didn't like it, but I didn't consider it bad enough 17%

17%
to do something about 15%

I think people are allowed to say/do what they 11%

10%
want online, even if I do not agree with it 11%
8%
I didn't know what to do / who to inform 10%
10%
4%
I didn't have time 5%
5%

I thought the site would remove the content 4%

3%
themselves 4%

Source: Age 18+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q16. You mentioned you did not take any action. Why
was this? Base: Users 13+ (June 2023: 1536, January 2024: 740, June 2024: 733).

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In line with June 2023 and January 2024, in June 2024 nearly
half (48%) the children aged 13-17 who chose to report or flag the
content or activity were aware of the outcome of their report
Thirty-nine per cent of children (13-17s) said they had ‘not heard anything yet’. Of those who were
aware of the outcome of their report, 36% said the content had been removed, 13% said they had
received a written response, and 15% had been asked for further information. Satisfaction, following
reporting potential harmful content, indicatively increased among users aged 13-17: from 48% in
June 2023 to 62% in June 2024, with the proportion of those dissatisfied remaining fairly stable at
21% in June 2023 vs. 18% in June 2024.
Figure 81: Outcome following UK teenagers aged 13-17 reporting a potential harm: 2023-2024
Nothing yet

June 2023 42% 33% 9% 1% 9% 11%

The content was removed

Received a written
response
January 2024 29% 39% 24% 2% 18% 12%
Something else

I was asked to provide

further information
June 2024 39% 36% 13% 2% 15% 13%
Don't know

Source: Age 13-17, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q17. You mentioned you reported/complained about
the [potential harm]. What happened as a result? Base: Children 13-17 (June 2023: 78*, January 2024: 47**,
June 2024: 52*). Please note users were able to select multiple answers for this question, hence the chart above
does not add to 100%. *low base size **very low base size.

User attitudes and approaches to staying safe online

Four in ten (39%) of UK adults believed that platforms and
search engines should have responsibility for user safety
When asked in June 2024 whether the onus should be on the website and app to have responsibility
for user safety on platforms where user-generated content is posted, or on the individual to ensure
that what they post is appropriate for other users, 39% of adult users thought the responsibility was
with the platform. This response has seen small but significant increases over the past year: 37% in
June 2023, 38% in January 2024. An increasing proportion of adults aged 55+ said the onus falls on
the platform, up from 36% in June 2023 to 40% by June 2024.
When asked specifically about search engines, 41% of adults said it was the responsibility of search
engines to control what is presented in search results, rather than for individuals to ensure they
have the correct settings in place to be presented only with what is appropriate for them. This was a
small but significant increase of 2pp since January 2024. Women were more likely than men to place
the onus on search engines (45% vs 38%). Among adult age groups, 25-34-year-olds were the most
likely to feel that the onus was on the search engine (46%), while 18-24s were the least likely
(38%). 245

245
For more data on search engines please refer to our interactive report
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Figure 82: Response to attitudes on platform vs individual responsibility by adult demographic
groups: June 2024

Demographic groups ‘Onus on platform’ Neutral ‘Onus on the individual’

Total 18+ 39% 41% 20%
Women 40% 43% 17%
Gender
Men 38% 39% 23%
18-24 34% 42% 24%
25-34 41% 41% 18%
35-44 39% 44% 17%
Age 45-54 38% 43% 19%
55-64 40% 41% 19%
65+ 40% 36% 25%
White 39% 42% 19%
Ethnicity
Minority ethnic 38% 40% 23%

Sig greater than total at 95% confidence Sig lower than total at 95% confidence
Source: Age 18+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q1. It is the responsibility of the website or app to control
what is posted on their site vs. It is the responsibility of the individual to ensure what they are posting is
appropriate for other users. Base Adults 18+ (June 2023: 13205, January 2024: 7068, June 2024: 7280)

By June 2024 there were slightly more adults users (12%) saying they were not confident in their
ability to stay safe online than in previous waves (11% in January 2024 and 10% in June 2023).
However, most adult users were confident overall (June 2024: 61%). The majority of adult users in
June 2024 also believed that common sense was enough to prevent them from seeing harmful or
offensive content, at 56%, although this represented a significant decrease from the 61% who said
the same the year before.

An increased proportion of online adults agreed that it was

important for sites to monitor and delete offensive views
More online adults in June 2024 than in the previous year thought it was ‘important for sites to
monitor and delete offensive views to protect other users’, at 26% compared to 24% in June 2023.
However, a higher proportion of adults (38%) felt that ‘the internet has an important role in
supporting free speech’. Men were more likely to be advocates of free speech, with 47% agreeing
with this statement compared to 30% of women. But 37% of online adults felt ‘neutral’ on the topic,
illustrating the diversity of opinion around moderating online content.

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Figure 83: Views on the role of internet, by gender: 2024

Source: Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q1. ‘The internet has an important role in supporting free speech,
even when some users might find the content offensive’ vs. ‘It is important for sites to monitor and delete
offensive views to protect other users’. Base: Adults 18+ (June 2024: 7280).

Over the past year a growing proportion of adults have felt that
further safety measures are needed online
This belief was held by 44% of adult users in June 2024, compared to 42% in January 2024 and 40%
in June 2023. This attitude was especially true for women, those aged 55+ and those from minority
ethnic groups. In contrast, men, younger adults and those identifying as LGB+ were more likely to
say that existing safety measures are sufficient (see Figure 84 for details). The proportion of online
adults who felt neutral about safety measures declined slightly, from 36% in June 2023 and January
2024, to 34% in June 2024. Twenty-two per cent of adult users said that the existing safety measures
meet the needs, consistent with June 2023 (23%) and January 2024 (22%).

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Figure 84: Adult differences in attitudes to on-platform safety measures, by demographics: June
2024

‘Measures meet ‘More safety

Demographic groups Neutral
needs’ measures needed’
Total 18+ 22% 34% 44%
Women 14% 33% 53%
Gender
Men 31% 35% 35%
18-24 20% 40% 40%
25-34 25% 31% 43%
35-44 23% 35% 42%
Age
45-54 26% 34% 40%
55-64 18% 32% 49%
65+ 18% 31% 51%
White 23% 33% 44%
Ethnicity
Minority ethnic 19% 36% 45%
Heterosexual 21% 33% 45%
Sexual orientation LGB+ 26% 36% 38%
Bisexual 24% 34% 42%

Sig greater than total at 95% confidence Sig lower than total at 95% confidence
Source: Age 18+, Ofcom, Online Experiences Tracker, Q1. ‘There are enough online safety measures in place’ vs.
‘There should be more online safety measures in place’. Base: Adults 18+ (June 2023: 13205, January 2024:
7068, June 2024: 7280).

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A1. Methodology
Ofcom research sources

Ofcom Online Experiences Tracker

The Online Experiences Tracker is a quantitative tracking survey that examines people's attitudes to,
and experiences of using online services and platforms in the UK. Ofcom carries out this research
twice a year using the YouGov online panel of over 2.7 million people who live in the UK.
Wave 6 of the Online Experiences Tracker was conducted among a nationally representative sample
of 7,280 UK internet users aged between 13 and 84. Fieldwork was conducted over a ten-day period
between 23rd May and 8th June 2024. The data has been weighted to be representative of the UK
internet user population on age within gender, and overall, to regional and SEG profiles.
All respondents who took part in the research were drawn from the YouGov panel. Children aged 13-
17 were recruited through their parents or guardians. The survey was passed to the children after
obtaining parents' or guardians' consent. Children then gave their own consent and had the
opportunity to decline to participate in the research if they wanted.
For more information, please see the Technical Report.

Ofcom Video-Sharing Platform (VSP) Tracker

The VSP Tracker is a quantitative survey that serves to understand and track VSP users’ awareness,
perceptions and claimed experiences of the safety measures and tools available on VSPs, within the
broader context of their use of VSPs. A total of 1,155 online interviews among children and adults
aged 13+ were conducted by YouGov in Wave 6. Wave 6 fieldwork took place in August 2024.
For more information, please see the Technical Report.

Ofcom Technology Tracker

The Technology Tracker is an annual survey conducted among UK people aged 16+, which collects
information about people’s ownership and use of technologies, including TV, radio, mobile phones,
the internet and smart technology. In 2024, the fieldwork was conducted by BMG Research with
4,000 people between January and April, and was a mix of 80% face-to-face and 20% online surveys
which were via a postal invitation. It is worth noting that comparisons with 2021 data are not
possible for the Tech Tracker, as the methodology in 2021 had to change to push-to-web and push-
to-post due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ofcom Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker

The Adults’ Media Literacy Tracker is an annual survey providing evidence on media use, attitudes
and understanding among UK people aged 16 and over.
This year, the Tracker comprised three surveys:
• Core survey: One wave a year, conducted face-to-face in-home/on the doorstep with
additional online interviews conducted through a research panel, with a total sample of
3,645 aged 16+ (2,121 face-to-face and 1,522 online). The fieldwork was conducted in
September-November 2023. This survey explored the topics of breadth of internet use,
device use and attitudes, and gaming.
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 • Online Behaviours and Attitudes: Two waves a year, delivered via online panel, with a total
sample of 6,182 aged 16+ (3,083 in wave 1 and 3,099 in wave 2). The fieldwork for wave 1
was conducted in May 2023, and for wave 2 in October-November 2023. This survey
explored the topics of social media, online attitudes and wellbeing.
• Online Knowledge and Understanding: One wave a year, delivered via online panel, with a
sample of 3,093 aged 16+. The fieldwork was conducted in October-November 2023. This
survey explored the topics of critical understanding, personal data, trust and online
advertising.

Ofcom Children’s and Parents’ Media Literacy Tracker

The Children’s and Parents’ Media Literacy Tracker provides evidence on media access, use,
attitudes and understanding among children and young people aged 3-17. The survey also asks
parents’ views about their children’s media use, and how parents of children and young people aged
3-17 monitor and manage their children’s use.
This year, the Tracker comprised three surveys:
Online behaviours and attitudes: One wave a year, delivered via an online panel, with a total sample
of 3,383 children aged 3-17. The fieldwork was conducted in October-November 2023.
Online knowledge and understanding: One wave a year, delivered via an online panel, with a sample
of 2,080 children aged 8-17. The fieldwork was conducted in October-November 2023.
Parents only: One wave a year, delivered via a mix of online panels and post-to-web surveys, with a
sample of 2,480 parents of children aged 3-17. The mixed methodology enabled us to reach a
broader sample of respondents. The fieldwork was conducted in October-November 2023.
Further details on the methodology of the Children’s and Parents’ Media Literacy Tracker 2023 can
be found in the 2023 Technical Report.

Ofcom Children’s Media Lives

The Children’s Media Lives project follows, as far as possible. the same group of 21 children aged 8
to 17, conducting filmed interviews each year to learn about their media habits and attitudes. This
research began in 2014 as a way of providing a small-scale, rich and detailed qualitative complement
to Ofcom’s quantitative surveys of media literacy.
It provides evidence about the motivations and the context for media use, and how media is a part
of their daily life and domestic circumstances. The project also provides rich details of how children’s
media habits and attitudes change over time, particularly in the context of their emotional and
cognitive development.

Ofcom Online Research Panel

Ofcom works with YouGov Plc UK on the Online Research Panel project, which allows Ofcom to
conduct online interviews administered to members of the YouGov UK panel of 2.5 million+
individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. Emails are sent to panellists selected at random
from the base sample. The email invites them to take part in a survey and provides a generic survey
link. Once a panel member clicks on the link, they are sent to the survey that they are most required
for, according to the sample definition and quotas. Invitations to surveys do not expire and
respondents can be directed to any available survey. The responding sample is weighted to the
profile of the sample definition to provide a representative reporting sample.

112
These are the sample definitions for each poll:
Children’s screentime – Total sample was 1121 participants aged 8-15, weighted and representative
of children internet users aged 8-15 in Great Britain. Fieldwork was undertaken between 19th and
26th March 2024.
Cloud storage, messaging and online marketplaces – Total sample was 2100 participants aged 16+,
weighted and representative of UK internet users aged 16+. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd
and 3rd July 2024.
Deepfakes (older teens and adults) – Total sample was 2520 participants aged 16+, weighted and
representative of UK internet users aged 16+. Fieldwork was undertaken between 7th and 10th June
2024.
Deepfakes (8-15 year-olds) – Total sample was 1051 participants aged 8-15, weighted and
representative of child internet users aged 8-15 in Great Britian. Fieldwork was undertaken between
7th and 13th June 2024.
Generative artificial intelligence and deepfakes (older teenagers and adults) – Total sample was
2520 participants aged 16+, weighted and representative of UK internet users aged 16+. Fieldwork
was undertaken between 7th and 10th June 2024.
Generative artificial intelligence and deepfakes (8-15 year-olds) – Total sample was 1051
participants aged 8-15, weighted and representative of child internet users aged 8-15 in Great
Britian. Fieldwork was undertaken between 7th and 13th June 2024.

Ofcom Children’s Online User Ages

To understand the extent to which children are bypassing age assurance measures, Ofcom
commissioned YouGov to conduct quantitative research to estimate the proportion of children who
have online profiles with ‘user ages’ that make them appear to be older than they actually are.
Fieldwork for the most recent survey was undertaken in August 2024 and was completed by 1,709
children aged 8-17.
To be eligible for the survey children were required to use and have their own profile on at least one
of the following ten platforms: YouTube (not including YouTube Kids), Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram,
Facebook, Discord, Pinterest, Twitch, X, Vimeo (or any other platforms they specified in the survey).
Boosts were applied to ensure a minimum base size of 50 per platform per age group, sufficient for
robust analysis.
For more information, please see the Technical Report.

Ofcom Communications Affordability Tracker

The Communications Affordability Tracker aims to provide Ofcom with continued understanding of
consumer affordability issues in the UK communications markets (covering mobile, landline, fixed
broadband, pay TV and on-demand TV services). The tracker has been running since June 2020 with
fieldwork being conducted on a quarterly basis via a telephone omnibus. The data included in this
report is based on fieldwork conducted in October 2024 among 1,089 UK adults, who identify either
as the sole or joint decision-maker for communications services in their household and/or those who
personally use a mobile phone.

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Ofcom News Consumption Survey
The News Consumption Survey (NCS) is a bi-annual survey with fieldwork for 2024 taking place
across two waves: from 6th November – 3rd December 2023 and 26th February – 23th March 2024,
reaching a sample of 5,466 nationally representative UK individuals aged 16+.
The aim of the News Consumption Survey is to help us understand:
• News consumption across the UK and within each UK nation
• The sources and platforms used for news
• The perceived importance of different outlets for news
• The attitudes towards individual news sources, and local news use
Please see the Ofcom Statistical Release Calendar 2024 for the News Consumption Survey 2024
technical report, published data tables and questionnaire.

Ofcom UK General Election news and opinion-formation

survey 2024
The survey was fielded four times during the General Election period to nationally representative
samples of UK adults (2,000 respondents per wave), using YouGov’s political omnibus.
Fieldwork was conducted on the following dates: 19th-20th June (W1); 26th-27th June (W2); 3rd-4th July
(W3); 10th-11th July (W4). The UK General Election was held on 4th July 2024, so the research
provided three waves of fieldwork in the run-up to the election, and one wave in the week after.
Minimal differences were observed across between the four waves. Therefore, for the purposes of
this report, we use the rolled figures made from combining all four waves of the tracker.
The survey consisted of 24 questions split across three sections:
5.1 Sources of news and current affairs: The sources that respondents used to find out news
and current affairs both outside and during the General Election period.
5.2 Attitudes towards news and current affairs: Respondents’ attitudes towards news and
current affairs to do with the General Election, how they formed their opinions and the role
of different media sources in this process.
5.3 Misinformation and deepfakes: Respondents’ experiences of perceived misinformation and
deepfakes during the General Election period.

Third-party research sources

Ipsos - Ipsos iris

Launched in early 2021, Ipsos iris is the UKOM-endorsed currency for the measurement of audiences
of online content of UK adults aged 15+ who use the internet at least once a month.
Ipsos iris uses a hybrid methodology with several data sources including:
• A passive single-source panel of over 10,000 adults who use the internet. Panellists install
passive tracking software onto personally used digital devices and in some instances those
who also use their device for work (smartphones, computers, and tablets) which access the
internet, with data collected continuously. The panel is recruited to be representative of the
internet population demographically, geographically and by device type use.
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 • Census measurement of publisher websites and apps to collect visit measures for time spent
and page views at a total level.
• A high-quality Establishment Survey, to produce universe targets. The Ipsos iris panel is then
weighted to the internet population of UK adults and demographic subgroups.
• External first-party data from accredited and approved sources with additional website or
app level targets.
Reporting on daily and monthly data, all sources are fused together to create a synthetic dataset
with more than one million records to represent the UK online infrastructure of websites and apps.
These can be analysed and reported at many demographic and geographic levels. As this is a
synthetic dataset, it is not possible to provide confidence intervals/ranges for extrapolated
population estimates. However, all extrapolated population figures provided are estimates that will
have some margin of error.
Due to a methodology enhancement of the Ipsos iris data set average total time spent data for the
YouTube brand, total app and website cannot be compared to previous years.
Where news publishers have implemented Ipsos iris’ tagging methodology visits to their articles via
Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles will pick up content consumed through these platforms
and attribute reach and time spent to the relevant publisher. Apple News content was categorised in
October 2023, there may be incremental increases in reach for some services when comparing year-
on-year data. More detail on the Ipsos iris methodology can be found at https://iris.ipsos.com/what-
we-offer/.
For the reports used here, we have mainly used Ipsos iris monthly data from May 2024. The passive
panel for this month covered a continuously measured sample of 10,700 adults. The panel size by
age and nation is below. Note that as this is a continuous panel, the reporting profile in other
months will be similar.

Demographic May 2022 May 2023 May 2024 May 2024

Ipsos iris panel Ipsos iris panel Ipsos iris panel UK
size size size proportions

UK age 18+ 10,871 10,542 10,700 99.4%

England 18+ 8,946 8,717 8,862 82.3%

Scotland 18+ 1,040 983 990 9.2%

Wales 18+ 623 561 548 5.1%

Northern Ireland 18+ 262 281 300 2.8%

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Ampere Analysis - games
Ampere Analysis is a research and data analysis company which focuses on media and
communications. This year we have included data from three of Ampere’s Games products:
• Ampere Games – Consumer, Q2, UK data. Two surveys are run within Q2:
One is a survey numbering 2,000 respondents aged 16-64 which is nationally representative
of the UK online population. The second is a much smaller survey of UK 13-15-year-olds
(120) which is not nationally representative. Where age groups are not defined, these two
sets of responses are combined together.
• Ampere Games – Analytics, May 2023 and May 2024 UK data: Analytics tracks title activity
across the Xbox and PlayStation console platforms, title inclusion within multi-game
subscription catalogues, and provides Ampere’s proprietary Popularity metric for leading
games.
• Ampere Games – Markets: Markets tracks total games market performance and forecasts
across device categories, monetisation models, and distribution types.

Barb – YouTube viewing on TV sets

Barb Audiences Ltd (Barb), is the industry’s standard for understanding what people watch. Barb
uses a hybrid approach, integrating people-based panel data with census-level online viewing data
to provide the official broadcast TV measurement for the industry. Barb has had a nationally
representative panel of approximately 5,300 homes (approximately 12,000 individuals). Over the last
couple of years they have been expanding the panel, this completed earlier in 2024 and now consists
of 7,000 homes (approximately 16,000 people). The data that Barb collects includes viewing of
broadcast TV through TV sets and via any devices attached to TV sets, such as computers, streaming
devices, or set-top boxes. Barb also captures device-based ‘big data’ whenever anyone in the UK
watches a broadcaster’s video-on-demand (BVoD) service on a connected device, as well as some
viewing data for video watched on online streaming services and video sharing platforms. This
includes video viewing on devices not connected to the TV being watched at home via WiFi. Barb
does not capture out-of-home viewing. Barb analysis has been taken from the AdvantEdge TV
analysis software.
References to other third-party sources
Ofcom references publicly-available information and third-party data sources throughout the report.
These include press releases, blogs, earnings reports, transparency reports and other publicly-
available corporate information. Other third-party providers cited in Online Nation include:
• Advertising Association • Institute for government
• Amazon • Match Group
• Bank of England • Meta
• BBC News • Met Office
• Bumble • Microsoft
• Bustle • New York Times
• CHILDWISE • Open AI
• CNN • Pornhub
• Forbes • Reddit
• Free Speech Coalition • Techradar
• Gov UK • The Guardian
• IAB • TechCrunch

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