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That online video will become more popular is something we all guessed.   But a new report quantifies its growth, and predicts that over half of all Americans will watch video online this year.

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About 154 million people, or 52.5 percent of the population, will tune in at some point in time.  eMarketer labeled this a "critical mass," and stated that this is a 12.1 percent rise compared to last year.  Also, as opposed to a once-every-12-months viewing, 80 percent of Internet users are expected to watch video online at least once a month.

By the time 2012 rolls around, a full 190.0 million Americans are expected to watch video online.  These folks will represent 87.6 percent of the online population, and 62.4 percent of the overall U.S. population.

Content providers are likely to make a strong effort to please these people.  The eMarketer report notes, "[A]s viewers demand full-length TV shows and clips, firms that already produce countless hours of video content, such as movie studios, are best positioned to fill the need."  Big advertisers will probably rush to embrace the situation, as well.

Finally, in case anyone's interested in what happened last year: 137.5 million Americans watched video online, representing 73.1 percent of Internet users and 47.3 percent of all Americans.