Many business owners question whether digital marketing is worth spending their budget on. A deeper look at how much time people spend online makes that question much easier to answer.
The typical person now spends around 6 hours and 38 minutes on the internet every day. In Australia, that number is even higher. According to the Digital 2026 Australia report, Australians spend approximately a whopping 41 hours online each week.
That's more than a full-time working week, but the most important thing isn't how much time people spend online. It's how they spend it.
One of the biggest misconceptions for businesses, they think customers follow a direct path from search to purchase. The reality is very different. People move between Google, social media, YouTube, AI tools and review websites before they ever decide who to contact.
The question is no longer whether your customers are online. It's whether your business is visible when those moments of decision happen.
The number of people using the internet continues to grow, with an estimated six billion users worldwide in 2025, around 74% of the global population. That growth reflects more than increasing connectivity. It shows how the internet has become part of everyday life, influencing how people research businesses, compare products, communicate, and make purchasing decisions. As more people come online each year, having a visible digital presence is no longer something that sets businesses apart. It's become an expectation.
Internet usage isn't evenly distributed across the world. While Asia is home to the largest online population, internet access continues to expand as smartphones become more affordable and digital infrastructure improves. Mobile devices now account for almost 59% of global web traffic, making it easier for customers to search, browse, and engage with businesses wherever they are. With customers spending more time online across more devices than ever before, making sure they can find clear, helpful information about your business has never been more important.
Internet users worldwide estimates - Source: Statista
The amount of time people spend online is only part of the story. What's more interesting is how internet use has become a part of everyday life.
Rather than logging on once or twice a day, people are always moving between devices and platforms. They might check Google before a meeting, watch a YouTube video over lunch, browse Instagram, or ask ChatGPT a question while comparing products.
Research from Digital 2026 Australia and DataReportal shows this change, showing that online activity is no longer confined to work or leisure. It's happening in hundreds of small moments throughout the day, influencing purchasing decisions without people even realising it.
Despite the attention social media receives, it still represents only about one-third of the average person's online activity. The remaining time is spent searching Google, reading articles, watching videos, researching businesses, shopping online, comparing reviews and increasingly using AI tools for research.
That's why building your whole marketing strategy around one platform is becoming harder to defend. Your customers definitely aren't limiting themselves to one channel.
Internet usage in Australia
Australia remains one of the world's most connected countries.
Source: Searchscope Digital 2026 Australia, GSMA Intelligence, Kepios.
The latest Digital 2026 Australia report shows Australians:
That last point shows one of the biggest changes in customer behaviour.
Google is still the place where people go to validate information, compare providers and look for assurance. At the same time, social media has become a place where customers discover brands, watch demonstrations, read comments and check credibility.
Rather than replacing search engines, social platforms have become another stage of the decision-making process.
Businesses that recognise this tend to create a far more steady customer experience across every touchpoint.
Different platforms now serve different purposes, and understanding those roles helps businesses make better marketing decisions.
Google continues to play a role in how people find information, but the way people use search is changing. Around 58.5% of Google searches end without a click, it means businesses need to focus on being visible wherever customers are finding answers, not just attracting website traffic. That's an important reminder that while search behaviour is evolving, Google remains the main place people turn to when they're ready to find answers, compare options or make purchasing decisions.
This is why SEO is known to deliver long-term value.
The objective isn't simply ranking for keywords. It's becoming the trusted answer when customers are actively looking for one, rather than asking whether SEO still works. It's worth asking whether your business is visible when people are ready to choose.
While Google dominates, Bing now accounts for around 5.03% Â of the combined search market. That may sound fairly small, but it still represents millions of searches every day.
Bing also powers search experiences across Microsoft products and contributes to how many AI-powered tools retrieve information, such as ChatGPT. For businesses targeting professionals or desktop users, optimising for Bing can still deliver valuable traffic.
Good SEO practices generally benefit both Google and Bing, making it worthwhile to ensure your website performs well across both search engines.
Beyond Google and Bing, search traffic is shared across platforms like DuckDuckGo (1.0%), Yahoo (0.7%), and a small number of other search engines. These platforms represent a much smaller share of the market, but together they highlight an important point.
People don't search the same way.
Some prioritise privacy, others use default search engines on their devices, and many discover businesses through a variety of online channels. A strong website with well-structured content helps improve visibility regardless of where those searches begin.
Scrolling has become one of the most common ways people discover brands, products and new services.
Australian research shows the average Australian spends around 13 hours each week scrolling on their phone, covering an estimated 380 meters a day- a bit shocking!Â
Adults aged 25–34 spend the most time scrolling, averaging just over 15 hours per week, while even Australians aged 65 and over spend more than 10 hours scrolling each week.
Over a billion people spend an average of 3 h scrolling through social media. For businesses, every scroll is an opportunity to be discovered. Whether someone finds you through social media, Google or recommended content, your business needs to be visible with content that's useful enough to stop the scroll and earn attention.
Search behaviour no longer starts and ends with traditional search engines.
Many people now discover businesses through platforms such as ChatGPT and other AI search tools, YouTube, TikTok, and social media before ever visiting Google. People watch product demonstrations, compare reviews, ask AI assistants for recommendations and consume educational content before making a decision. That doesn't mean these platforms replace search engines. Instead, they complement them.
Businesses that consistently publish helpful, accurate and trustworthy content across multiple channels are far more likely to be discovered wherever potential customers begin their research. As AI-powered search and content discovery continue to grow, having a strong website supported by quality content remains one of the best ways to improve visibility across the entire digital system.
Source: Searchscope January 2026 Statcounter
The numbers themselves aren't the most valuable insight.
Customer behaviour is. People haven't stopped searching.
They've simply expanded where they search.
Google.
YouTube.
Reddit.
TikTok.
AI tools.
Review websites.
Forums.
A potential customer might first discover your business on Instagram, compare competitors using ChatGPT, read Google reviews, visit your website and then return several days later before making contact.
That journey isn't rare anymore. Businesses seeing consistent growth are seldom the ones trying to control every platform. They're the ones providing useful, consistent information wherever their customers naturally look.
Search has become a network rather than a single destination.
Customer behaviour will continue changing, but the essentials remain surprisingly consistent.
Businesses should focus on:
Businesses don't need to be everywhere. They need to be useful where their customers are looking. Search engines, AI platforms and people all reward businesses that consistently provide clear, trustworthy answers.
Understanding how long people spend online is exciting. Understanding what they're trying to achieve during that time is far more valuable.
The businesses that continue growing aren't simply producing more content. They're becoming the most trusted answer, wherever their customers choose to search.
That's exactly what effective SEO has always been about, and it's becoming even more important as search continues to evolve.
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