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You might not believe it, but the group often referred to rather predictably as silver surfers is the fastest-growing audience on the internet.

Not much more than a year ago, one-fifth of the UK online population was aged 50 or older, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Now it is one in four.

If Victor Meldrew hadn't had a car reversed over him at the end of One Foot in the Grave, future episodes may well have shown him bringing his particular brand of frustration to bear on pop-up advertising and spam.

The shift in online demographics away from a predominantly youthful user base may force advertisers and online media owners to change their approach to cater for the tastes and desires of the over-50s. While under-16s are heavily targeted online by a never-ending list of brands including Dairylea, Kellogg, Penguin and Nintendo, there are fewer advertisers specifically going after an older audience - and yet there are more over-50s in the UK than there are under-16s (see panel, p 25).

It seems adland's obsession with the 16- to 24-year- old age group is unshakeable, and even magnified when it comes to a medium that has come to be associated with a young audience during its short existence.

What is clear is that the over-50s group encompasses many affluent individuals, some of whom have considerable spending power, such as 'empty nesters', whose disposable income can be substantial, given that their children have left home.

Millennium, a marketing agency specialising in the mature market, claims that the over-50s have a massive £196 billion in spending power, far more than the younger audience that many advertisers prize. And those over-50s with internet access will by definition tend to be those with money to spend, as they will either have the wherewithal to afford a home computer or still be working in better-paid, white-collar jobs with access to computers - possibly both.

"The appeal of mature web users to advertisers is that this is an audience that is ABC1-dominated," says 50connect managing director Phil Cooper.

"They are more affluent than their offline counterparts." The internet can almost be seen as a filtration device, he argues, delivering an audience of affluent mature consumers to those interested in targeting them.

While many over-50s are fairly tech-savvy, they are turned off by design that is gimmicky or too complicated; what appeals to young users may irritate an older audience. "We find that a lot of silver surfers are using good PCs," says Ben Collins, media strategist at digital marketing agency Unique Digital, which helps client Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines to target the over-45s online (see panel, p26). "But they are easily frightened away, so if you have too many pop-ups, there are massive drop-off rates."

From a media standpoint, one of the questions to address is whether to buy space on niche sites that are targeted almost exclusively at an older audience, or whether to plump for sites with a wider age appeal that have a good proportion of over-50s in their audience. For many, the answer is to balance the media schedule by having some sites of each type.

Advertisers looking to source niche sites can check out the Silver Surfers web site (www.silversurfers.net), which carries a mini-directory with links to the leading UK web sites targeted at the over-50s market. In truth, the majority of these sites tend to be relatively small, attracting only moderate numbers of visitors and being short on regularly updated content. Some are run by enthusiasts, rather than professionals.

A few of the niche sites are rather more impressive. Among those that stand out due to their reach and professionalism are 50connect (www.50connect.co.uk), Over50s.com and Seniority (www.seniority.co.uk), while the less commercial IDF50.co.uk has a bit of a cult following. There are also a couple of offline brands that have developed an online presence, such as The Oldie magazine (www.theoldie.co.uk) and Saga (www.saga.co.uk), which as well as providing editorial content online, promotes branded products such as holidays and offers e-commerce in the form of financial products.

Probably the biggest launch into the market came in September 1999 with Vavo.com, which received a £10 million injection from the Prudential and GE Insurance Holdings. But the site has endured mixed fortunes and at the time of writing, little content is being updated. A Prudential spokeswoman confirms the future of the site is under consideration - but it may receive further investment if it is deemed to fit with "strategic plans".

Some of the major portals now have large numbers of mature users. AOL says 20 per cent of its members are over 55, while MSN says 26.4 per cent of its audience is aged 50 or over.

"The over-50s are a very interesting audience," says Sheila Sang, AOL's director of editorial and programming. "We recognise that they are a fast-growing audience and we don't want to ignore them. They tend to be more affluent and they often have more free time on their hands because their children have left home. They are often looking to learn from the internet."

Andrew Walmsley, chairman of media agency i-level, agrees that over-50s mainly use the internet for information rather than for entertainment, adding: "You need to remember that when assessing the content environment for advertising."

An AOL/BMRB study at the tail end of last year found that AOL microsites such as House & Home, Travel, Health and Your Money were particularly popular with the over-50s. The research also found that 76 per cent of AOL members over 50 go online every day, compared with just 41 per cent of the under- 50s, and that the over-50s spend significantly longer online, with 85 per cent spending at least an hour a day.

In July and August, Orange20, the online division of advertising agency Media ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 Services, created a campaign for the British Red Cross aimed at persuading people to leave a legacy to the charity. Sites used included the ValueClick network and 50connect, with the latter putting together and hosting a microsite and managing data capture. Banners, buttons, emails and editorial links were used to drive traffic to the microsite.

The campaign generated 203 promising responses, after a few crank replies were weeded out, which British Red Cross legacies campaign manager Sarah Williams describes as "encouraging". These 'serious respondent' leads have been sent a Time to Change the World legacy booklet, explaining how they can help the organisation by making provisions in their wills.

"It's difficult to assess a campaign of this nature but from a legacies point of view the internet is definitely another useful channel," says Williams. "My feeling is it is a good medium for those who are over 50 and under 70, but pretty pointless for those who are over 70. But a lot of people who are 50 or 60 are at the stage of life where they are retiring and start doing things like making a will."

Although a handful of advertisers have constructed online campaigns carefully targeted at an over-50s audience, they are very much pioneers.

Some advertisers will rightly claim, of course, that their campaigns are intended to appeal to a broad range of consumers, irrespective of their age. But there is a sense that many advertisers are still getting to grips with the size and affluence of the silver surfer population.

"There's a big apple to be bitten," says Geoff Ellis, Over50s.com managing director. "Most companies don't target the over-50s marketplace as well as they should. Maybe it's because they don't realise it's as big a market as it really is. Maybe they have forgotten where a lot of the spending comes from."

Arguably one of the greatest obstacles slowing the spread of online advertising aimed at the over-50s is the size of the group and types of individuals contained within it. Millennium divides the over-50s into three categories: 50- to 59- year-old 'thrivers', 60- to 69-year-old 'seniors' and 70-plus 'elders'. e

However, although targeting by age may be a helpful starting point, it is insufficient. People tend to define themselves far more by their interests than their actual age. Indeed, some would rather not be reminded that they are ageing.

"Old people are - shock, horror - like you and me," says Walmsley. "They are not a homogeneous group. You can't lump them together and say they are interested in stair-lifts and gardening. Some are, but others are interested in the latest Coldplay CD."

Mary Stewart-Hunter, consumer insight director at media communications agency OMD Europe, agrees. "I think they (over-50s) value the fact that the internet is blind to age. They value ease and simplicity of interface, not because they can't cope but because they have better things to do with their time than wallow around in fussy design."

This is a point that needs to be understood by creative agencies, whose designers are predominantly on the young side. As a general rule of thumb, ads and web sites that appeal to older audiences need to steer a course between over-elaborate graphics and trite images of the over-50s that reinforce lifestyle stereotypes that are out of date.

Despite its rapid growth, this is still an audience that is very difficult to target well. Thought is required, but solutions are not always easy and ill-conceived ideas need to be rejected. "I've considered going to health sites and targeting by illness," admits Unique Digital's Collins. "But having thought about it, I'm not sure whether morally it is right."

OVER-50S FACTS AND FIGURES

- The over-50s are the fastest-growing audience on the internet.

- Nielsen//NetRatings figures for the month of August 2002 show that the over-50s account for 25 per cent of the online population.

- According to the recently published national Census, for the first time ever there are now more people over 60 (21 per cent of the population) in the UK than under-16s.

- The over-50s have collective spending power of £196 billion, according to Millennium, a marketing agency specialising in the mature market.

- 60 per cent of all UK savings and investments are held by those over the age of 50.

- Nearly 25 per cent of those visiting online banking sites in the UK are aged 50 or over, according to NetValue.

- 92 per cent of Web users aged over 55 have used the internet for window shopping and 78 per cent have made a purchase online, according to Greenfield Online.

- Those aged 50-plus spend an average of 13 days online per month - higher than any other age group, according to NetValue.

- Surfing the internet now ranks fourth in the top 10 of leisure pursuits for those aged 50, found an Age Concern survey in association with Microsoft.

- Those over-50s in employment outspend their under-50 counterparts by more than 20 per cent, says the Government Actuaries Department of Projections.

FRED. OLSEN CRUISE LINES TARGETS SILVER SURFERS ONLINE

Cruise line company Fred. Olsen's core target market is the 45-plus age group. It spends about £250,000 a year online, spread across investment in its web site, an email marketing programme and buying advertising space on other web sites.

"The over-50s is an extremely important market for us; we'd be kidding ourselves to think we were a young person's cruise company," says Peter Oxlade, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' new-media manager.

The Fred. Olsen web site (www.fredolsencruises.co.uk) goes beyond an online brochure to provide a virtual tour of its three ships and information on ports of call.

The company intends to introduce an e-commerce capability next year to allow, for example, those who have booked a cruise to order champagne for their cabin or book and pay for excursions.

Online direct marketing activity is carried out using a database of 10,000 email contacts, comprised of consumers who have either taken a cruise before or who have indicated an interest in this sort of holiday. "We used to send an email out every month, but that didn't work that well," adds Oxlade.

"What I prefer to do is send out an email when we have something to say that is relevant to them, based on the information we have, rather than turn them off with offers they don't want."

This targeted approach has led to greatly increased response rates. About 70 per cent of recipients open the emails, and roughly 10 per cent click through to the site.

Media is carried out by Unique Digital, which opts for sites targeted at the over-50s and travel sites.

Fred. Olsen has used banner ads featuring a champagne bottle smashing into them to mark the launch of a new brochure, and attention has also been paid to keyword searching.

"Keyword searches are getting more important," says Oxlade. "When people put words such as cruising and Caribbean into a search engine, we want them to be directed to our site."