http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6268.html

Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet

Published:    August 17, 2009
Author:    John Quelch

Executive Summary:

Businesses around the advertising-supported Internet have incredible multiplier effects throughout the economy and society. Professor John Quelch starts to put some numbers on the impact. Key concepts include:

    * Each Internet job supports approximately 1.54 additional jobs elsewhere in the economy, or roughly 2 percent of employed Americans.
    * The advertising-supported Internet creates annual value of $444 billion.
    * About 190 million people in the United States spend, on average, 68 hours a month on the Internet. A conservative valuation of this time is an estimated $680 billion.