If you thought you used the Internet a lot… what about your kids?

eMarketer estimates that 82 percent of United States teenagers aged 12 to 17 and 43.5 percent of children aged 3 to 11 will use the Internet on a monthly basis in 2009. Meanwhile, Nielsen Online says that about 19 percent of active Internet users in July 2008—or 32.4 million people—were under age 18.

Meanwhile, teenagers are proving to be heavy mobile users too. Research by MultiMedia Intelligence found that there were 16 million mobile teens in the U.S. in 2007. That’s about two-thirds of all teenagers in the country. Further, Pew Internet & American Life Project and the College Board’s National Commission on Writing found that a greater percentage of U.S. teens have a mobile phone than own a PC.

Of course, it may be a moot point, given the gradual convergence of media technology.

Source: eMarketer, “Kids and Teens Are Always On”, eMarketer, November 17, 2008

Online search intelligence firm Hitwise has released the top 10 searched on words for September 2008.

The ClickZ Network has published the top 10 in various categories. The top keyword for the IT and Internet category was ‘paypal’ and the top word for Net Communities and Chat category was ‘netflix’.

Check out the list here.

Source: The ClickZ Network, “Top 10 Search Terms in 10 Categories, September 2008″, The ClickZ Network, Oct 27, 2008

If you’re a small, startup etailer and offer your customers the ability to create a wish list… you may just qualify to be sued by Channel Intelligence.

Tech Crunch reports that on Tuesday, Florida-based company, Channel Intelligence, filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against a long list of startups and others who offer “wish lists” for products people may want others to buy for them.

Notably, Channel Intelligence seems to be suing everyone EXCEPT the major online retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and others, who are likely to be the biggest “offenders” (if the lawsuit is to be taken seriously).

Presumably, Channel Intelligence has chosen not to battle those with substantial legal budgets, who could potentially drag out the litigation and kill Channel Intelligence with legal fees before it’s even able to bring its case! A more cynical view, however, is that Channel Intelligence is choosing easy targets for a lawsuit that has little substance.

Of course, I shouldn’t say that. The lawsuit may well be justified based on U.S. patent law. But how the online version of a wish list - which has surely been used by everyone from kids who have left out notes out for Father Christmas to large off-line department stores - meets the criteria of a patent (unique, innovative, etc) I don’t know…

Source: Michael Arrington, “Channel Intelligence Sues Just About Everyone Who Offers Wishlists”, Tech Crunch, July 17, 2008