eMarketer estimates that the segment now comprises 27% of the total male Internet user population, and the percentage is growing.

"Marketers and advertisers have long craved the brand awareness of this hard-to-pin-down demographic segment," said Darren Bosik, eMarketer analyst and author of the new report, Men Online: Reaching 18- to-34-Year-Olds. "The theory is that the young adult man is a brand investment — win his loyalty today and reap profits tomorrow when he’s older and richer."

Whether at home, work or school, 23.1 million US men age 18 to 34 use the Internet.

A Wired article dubbed "The Lost Boys" said that when it comes to media, men 18 to 34 like things "fresh, unpredictable, and uncensored. They’re more than twice as likely as other adults to have TiVo or some other DVR…On the Web, they tend to cluster at porn, gaming, and sports sites."

According to Nielsen Media Research, men 18 to 34 spend roughly two hours a day online (the most of any male age bracket), although that’s still lower than their time spent watching television and listening to the radio daily.

"These young men are continuing to watch fewer hours of TV," Mr. Bosik said, "and spend more of their time online, playing games, downloading videos, music and podcasts and sometimes even shopping."

However, even though men 18 to 34 are going online more than ever before, they consider TV a better advertising medium. When Maxim’s annual "Man Study," conducted by Hall & Partners, asked about the "most effective" way to advertise to their age group, 74% cited TV.

Nevertheless, ad dollars are shifting online because many experts think that marketers who gain the attention of younger men and increase their number of brand interactions will have the competitive advantage over those who develop gender-neutral marketing campaigns.

"Generally speaking, young men are more avid consumers than women of online information," Jonathan Sackett, chief digital officer of Arnold Worldwide, told eMarketer. "They look for information on a wider variety of topics and issues than women do."

"Men are more likely than women to use the Internet as a destination for recreation," Mr. Sackett said. "They’re more likely to gather material for their hobbies, read online for pleasure, take informal classes, participate in sports fantasy leagues, download music and videos, remix files and listen to radio. Men are more interested than women in technology, and they are also more tech savvy."

Via eMarketer