News on the Web should be during working hours.
Spending time on the Internet has become the leading media choice among women–and is second only to work, sleep, and spending time with family in terms of being a valued activity and resource, according to a new study by Yahoo! and Starcom MediaVest Group and reported by MediaDailyNews. The study shows that some women frequently extend the workday to accommodate their Internet use.

Among the key findings of the research: Women most often seek out news, weather, games, and financial content on the Web; women feel justified spending time online at work for non-work activities because they are putting in longer hours than ever; and women multitask between doing work at work and surfing the ‘Net at work, alternating between purposeful searches and tuning into their favorite sites. While women browse and research online, they shop and buy both via the Web and at physical stores.

The research found that the media habits of women have changed inexorably over the last 30 years or more as most women work outside the home. That suggests that marketers and online publishers will find most women in front of a PC at work, rather than the TV or any other form of media during the day. The qualitative portion of the research also found that detailing women’s overall activities in one day totaled up to a staggering 38 hours of activity within a 24-hour period. Multitasking has become mandatory.