Current Events in March 2018

Whole Foods met with some of its suppliers earlier this week to share details of its new affinity program and assure its suppliers that the Amazon acquisition isn’t reason for concern, Fortune reports.

In the time since the grocer was acquired by Amazon last year, food companies have speculated that Amazon has been behind some of the less well-received changes at Whole Foods, such as asking suppliers for more fees to get their product on the shelves.

During the meeting, Whole Foods reportedly talked about its new affinity program and “stressed to its suppliers that buying into the new program was a way for them to grow.”  

Amazon has helped in terms of speed

The company’s new affinity program will give Amazon Prime members exclusive discounts on some of the store’s most popular items, as well as additional weekly savings.

Whole Foods executives say the acquisition has also helped the company move closer to its goal of changing its operations to strip unnecessary costs, which would ultimately help lower prices for consumers.

“It’s the result of a lot of the work we’ve done over the last couple of years,” A.C. Gallo, Whole Foods president and COO, told Fortune. Gallo added that Amazon’s involvement has sped up the process of making the company’s goals a reality.

“Amazon moves very quickly,” he said. “So many of the things we wanted to do over the last few years we didn’t have the ability or resources. They bring the big vision on what’s possible and where things are going.”

Less complicated buying structure

The Amazon acquisition has also made the business of selling product to Whole Foods less complicated, Gallo said.

In the past, major national suppliers had to meet with global buyers in Austin and then each regional office, which was “cumbersome,” said Gallo. Per the new buying structure, larger suppliers will only have to meet with the global team in Austin.

Nevertheless, the new buying structure has given rise to growing concerns, especially among smaller suppliers. But Gallo said the new structure will give buyers in local markets more time to scout new items. He also noted that Whole Foods added about 700 new local suppliers last year and will continue to grow its fleet of smaller suppliers.

If you're busy planning your summer vacation, remember that when you choose to book airfare will have a significant impact on how much you pay for tickets.

Each year, online booking company CheapAir.com analyzes millions of airfares to determine the best and worst times to buy tickets. For 2018, it found it pays to plan well ahead.

In 2017, the best domestic fares were available approximately 54 days before departure. But this year, the company says you'll get the best price if you book 70 days before takeoff.

Frustrating process

Even the lowest fares don't stay the same. For any given trip, the lowest available fare will change an average of 62 times during the 11 months it is on sale. Each fluctuation will save or cost travelers an average of $36.

“We hear from travelers all the time who are frustrated that a fare they saw one day is dramatically higher the next,” said Jeff Klee, CEO of CheapAir.com. “And it’s equally disturbing when you book a trip and find out two weeks later that the price has gone way down."

Klee says understanding why airfares change will help you monitor available flights and find the booking sweet spot. Booking too early doesn't save you money, it actually drives up costs.

Airlines want to fly with each seat filled. They also want to get as much money as possible for those seats. Much like a seafood market, it must set prices to attract as many purchases as possible before the fish spoils -- or in this case the plane takes off.

Booking early can be costly

Booking 169 to 319 days in advance of departure will get you the best seat selection, but tickets will cost, on average, $50 more than if you wait. If you book between 122 to 168 days ahead of time, ticket prices are only $20 more and you still have a great chance of getting the flight and the seat you want.

If price is a bigger consideration than selection, consider booking your 2018 trip 21 to 121 days before departure. You may find fares move around a lot but are usually no more than 5 percent above the lowest price.

Within 20 days of departure, fares generally begin to rise and seat selection is more competitive. Parties traveling together will likely be spread throughout the cabin.

Waiting to within two weeks of departure is "playing with fire." CheapAir says you'll find fuller flights, but you won't find many deals.

Fares rise dramatically in the last week before departure. Procrastinators will pay an average of $208 more for a ticket than those who bought tickets during the "booking sweet spot."

International Harvest of Mount Vernon, N.Y., is recalling 14,620 lbs. of bulk and 24,270 bags of Organic Go Smile! Raw Coconut.

The product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The following product is being recalled:

• Retail: International Harvest Brand Organic Go Smile! Dried Coconut Raw, in a 9oz poly/plastic bag, UPC: 7 39446 40220 7, with the following "Sell by Dates" on the back of the bag: 010118, 020118, 030118, 040118, 050118,060118, 070118, 080118, 090118, 100118, 110118, 120118, 010119, 020119, 030119.
• Bulk: Go Smiles Dried Coconut Raw in a 25-bulk case labeled with the following batch/Lot #’s: OCSM-0010, OCSM-0011, Lot# OCSM-0014.

The recalled product was sold to customers by online retailers, retail stores and distributors and distributed directly in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Georgia, Vermont, Illinois, Florida, Maine, Washington, New Hampshire and Utah.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at 914-699-5600, Monday – Friday from 8:00am – 5:00pm.

Standard Meat Company of Saginaw, Texas, is recalling up to 53,154 pounds of raw beef sirloin that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following frozen, marinated top sirloin items, produced between February 19, 2018, and March 14, 2018. are being recalled:

• Approximate 20-lb. boxes containing “USDA Select or Higher Beef 6 oz Top Sirloin Steak Mechanically Tenderized” with case code 45966.
• Approximate 30-lb. boxes containing “USDA Select or Higher Beef 8 oz Top Sirloin Steak Mechanically Tenderized” with case code 45968.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST. 33861” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were shipped to restaurants nationwide.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard them or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions regarding the recall may contact Joe Brhlik at (866) 859-6313.

Members of Congress are calling for more oversight of Facebook after information about an estimated 50 million users was allegedly used to influence elections.

Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, wrote a letter to the committee leadership asking it to hold hearings and solicit testimony from top Facebook executives.

Markey and others are asking for an explanation of how Cambridge Analytica, a political marketing firm, acquired private data on Facebook users that was allegedly then used in the successful Brexit and Trump campaigns.

In his letter, Markey cited published reports suggesting only a small number of Facebook users had agreed to their information being shared with a third party.

“In light of these allegations, and the ongoing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent decree that requires Facebook to obtain explicit permission before sharing data about its users, the Committee should move quickly to hold a hearing on this incident, which has allegedly violated the privacy of tens of millions of Americans,” Markey wrote.

Request for details

Sen. Ron Wyden, (D-Ore.), is asking the social media company to detail the extent that private information was misused. He also suggested a review of how Facebook collects, stores, and shares information.

In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Wyden said the ease with which the site's default privacy settings were exploited for profit and political gain raises questions about the company's business model.

"It also raises serious concerns about the role Facebook played in facilitating and permitting the covert collection and misuse of consumer information,” Wyden wrote. “With little oversight—and no meaningful intervention from Facebook—Cambridge Analytica was able to use Facebook-developed and marketed tools to weaponize detailed psychological profiles against tens of millions of Americans.”

Highly-targeted ads

Facebook has been successful because of the power of its targeted advertising. Commercial enterprises can buy ads that appear in the timelines of consumers of a specific age and gender who have certain interests.

The fact that politicians would also take advantage of this power should not come as a surprise. In the wake of the 2016 U.S. election that sent Donald Trump to the White House, Facebook got a lot of unwelcome attention for the information that appeared in users' timelines -- information that looked like news stories but may or may not have been true.

Facebook spent much of 2017 making adjustments -- such as downgrading links from certain sites and adding "related stories" to broaden the scope of coverage.

However, part of the problem stems from the fact that for a significant number of consumers, Facebook is their primary source of news. The Pew Research Center reports that during the height of the 2016 presidential campaign, 62 percent of adults said they got news from social media sites.

Major airlines have banded together and released a wish list of regulations that the industry would like to see the Trump administration repeal -- many of which were originally designed to protect travelers.

If those wishes come true, the protection that travelers have gotten used to will move to the back of the plane. Gone will be dozens of rights travelers have enjoyed in recent years -- from the option of deplaning a flight that’s sat on the tarmac for more than three hours to seeing all taxes and fees in an airline’s advertised fare.

“The lesson for us in Washington is to remove all onerous burdens,” said Derek Kan, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) undersecretary for policy, in explaining the Trump Administration’s goal.

While Kan emphasized that regulations that are “critical for safety” will “remain untouched,” the DOT’s viewpoint is that there are a number of regulations that “do not seem to have a cost-benefit” justification.

Deregulation would “gut” consumer protections

Airlines for America (A4A), a D.C.-based trade association and lobbying group that describes themselves as “advocates on behalf of its members to shape crucial policies and measures that promote safety, security and a healthy U.S. airline industry” appears to be the pilot of this effort.

The organization wants to see more than 30 regulations abolished, and it has the wind of all the major airlines beneath its wings, too. The group’s members transport more than 90 percent of U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic.

Flyer advocates see a different picture, however. “There is nothing wrong with trimming back unnecessary regulations, but airlines now want no regulation or self regulation,” Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights.org and member of the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee, told ConsumerAffairs.

“That would gut the few consumer protections passengers have. And oh, airlines of course want to keep regulations that help them like prohibitions on foreign competition, antitrust exemptions and effective bars on new airport construction to relieve congestion.”

How this may affect your next flight

Among the list of potential regulations the airline industry might be looking to reverse are consumer rules that the DOT put in place in 2011 under the Obama administration. They include:

• A passengers’ ability to hold a reservation without payment, or cancel a booking without penalty, for 24 hours after the reservation is made, if they make the reservation one week or more prior to a flight’s departure date;

• An airline requirement to promptly notify passengers of flight delays of over 30 minutes, as well as flight cancellations and diversions;

• Restrictions that prohibit an airline from increasing the price of passengers’ ticket after it is bought;

• A requirement that all mandatory taxes and fees must be included together in the advertised fare;

• A requirement that airlines and ticket agents have to disclose baggage fees to consumers when they book a flight online; and

• The tarmac delay rule, which currently gives passengers the option to deplane if the plane they’re on was sitting on the tarmac for more than three hours.

“Airline passengers have rights, and they should be able to expect fair and reasonable treatment when booking a trip and when they fly,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said when the new rules were established. “The new passenger protections are a continuation of our effort to help air travelers receive the respect they deserve."

Federal regulators have begun an investigation of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the U.S. following reports that airbags in certain models failed to deploy in head-on collisions.

Specifically, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking at six accidents that claimed four lives and injured six others. The investigation centers on the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and 2012 and 2013 Kia Forte -- an estimated 425,000 cars.

Some of the vehicles are subject to recall. In late February, Hyundai filed a defect information report (DIR) that resulted in a NHTSA recall. The company said it produced the DIR after post-collision inspections of the vehicles' airbag control units (ACUs).

Electrical overstress condition

Hyundai said the inspections showed what it called an "electrical overstress condition" of one of the components in the airbag system was present in three of the crashed vehicles. A fourth ACU is still being analyzed.

At the moment, regulators say Hyundai has not found a way to repair the problem. It is still investigating the cause of the failure with the part manufacturer.

Meanwhile, NHTSA said it is aware of an earlier recall where an electrical overstress condition appeared to cause airbag failure in certain Fiat Chrysler vehicles. It will try to determine whether the problem is present in vehicles from other manufacturers.

Seeking answers

NHTSA says its Office of Defect Investigations will evaluate the scope of Hyundai's recall and confirm whether Kia uses the same or similar part. The investigation will also review the root cause of the issue, with an emphasis on finding what is contributing to the part's electrical overstress.

As an enhanced safety feature, airbags were introduced in passenger vehicles in the U.S. during the mid-1970s as an option in luxury cars. Passenger cars and light trucks built after September 1, 1998 were required to have airbags for the driver and the right front passenger.

Credited with saving countless lives since then, the airbag has not been without its problems. Airbags made by Japanese manufacturer Takata have been the cause of the largest auto recall in the U.S., after it was determined that its airbag inflators could explode, spraying tiny bits of metal throughout the vehicle cabin.

The defect is blamed for 13 fatalities in the U.S. Takata recently agreed to a $650 million settlement with 44 states and the District of Columbia while its automotive customers have paid out a total of more than $1 billion in settlements.

Reviewing its pet program

Once Toys “R” Us completes its recently-announced liquidation, it will leave more than 700 large, empty retail spaces throughout the US. Could Amazon be poised to fill them?

A report by Bloomberg News cites people close to the situation as saying the retail giant has kicked around the idea of picking up at least a few of them. It would be a quick and fairly inexpensive way to expand the company's physical presence.

While dominating the retail world through online sales, Amazon has shown interest in recent years in establishing more of a brick-and-mortar presence. The company acquired Whole Foods last summer, giving it locations from which to make food deliveries.

It has also opened the first cashless convenience store, where shoppers can fill their shopping carts and just leave the store, with sensors recording the purchases and charging them to a credit card. It's also launched a chain of bookstores.

Picking up some of the soon-to-be vacant Toys “R” Us locations could be useful for whatever else the retail giant has up its sleeve. What that could be, however, no one knows.

Possible uses

Bloomberg speculates that the retail space could be used to display popular Amazon products, such as the Echo. Products could be felt, touched, and demonstrated in a physical store setting much easier than they can be online.

The locations could also serve as mini distribution centers, allowing customers to pick up items faster than if they were being delivered to their homes.

On the other hand, any discussions that may be going on might not lead anywhere. In 2015, Amazon reportedly negotiated to pick up some Radio Shack locations, but in the end it passed on the deal.

Whatever the facts are, we may have to wait before we know. Neither Amazon nor Toys “R” Us have commented on the possibility of a deal.

Half of American households (55 percent) now subscribe to at least one video streaming service, according to consulting firm Deloitte’s 12th annual digital media trends survey.

That figure represents an increase from last year, when 49 percent of households subscribed to at least one streaming service. The number has surged dramatically since 2009, when just 10 percent of consumers subscribed to a video streaming service.

The average streaming customer subscribes to three streaming services, and U.S. consumers spend $2.1 billion a month on video streaming service subscriptions.

Exclusive content important to many

Of the 2,088 consumers surveyed, over half said they decided which video streaming service to subscribe to based on the amount and quality of exclusive content the service had. Others said factors such as commercial-free content and the ability to watch movies and shows at anytime guided their decision.

The survey found that the average American consumes 38 hours of video content each week -- 15 hours (or 39 percent) of which is streamed.

“Consumers now enjoy unparalleled freedom in selecting media and entertainment options and their expectations are at an all-time high,” said Kevin Westcott, vice chairman and U.S. media and entertainment leader for Deloitte.

“The rapid growth of streaming services and high-quality original content has created a significant opportunity to monetize the on-demand environment in 2018.”

Drop in pay-TV subscriptions

The number of households that subscribe to a traditional TV service delivered via cable, satellite, and fiber has dropped to 63 percent from 74 percent in 2016, according to the report.

Among millennials (ages 21-34), 22 percent said they have never subscribed to pay TV. Of those who said they no longer had pay TV, 27 percent said they had “cut the cord” within the past year.

Nearly half (46 percent) of pay TV subscribers said they are dissatisfied with their service and 70 percent of all consumers said pay TV wasn't a good value. Around half (56 percent) of consumers who currently subscribe to a pay TV service say they keep it because it’s bundled with broadband service.

Claire’s has announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company says it plans to pursue a financial restructuring to eliminate a “substantial portion of debt” and position itself as one of the world’s leading jewelry stores for young women.

Claire’s expects to complete the Chapter 11 process in September and reduce its overall debt by approximately $1.9 billion.

“This transaction substantially reduces the debt on our balance sheet and will enhance our efforts to provide the best possible experience for our customers,” said CEO Ron Marshall in a statement.

“We will complete this process as a healthier, more profitable company, which will position us to be an even stronger business partner for our suppliers, concessions partners and franchisees,” Marshall said.

Will continue to operate

The company joins other retail chains that have been forced to file for bankruptcy as a result of lighter foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores. Last week, Toys “R” Us announced it would close all 735 of its U.S. stores after filing for bankruptcy last year.

But Claire’s says it’s not done doing business yet.

"Claire's is growing, not shrinking," the company said. It expects to report net sales of more than $1.3 billion and net income of $29 million for the 2017 fiscal year. It also expects to add more than 4,000 stores in 2018.

Claire’s, which first opened in 1978, says it has pierced more than 100 million ears around the world. The company says its business is safe from online retailers like Amazon because you can’t pierce your ears online.

"The company’s iconic ear piercing services are unmatched and cannot be replicated online," the company said.

The company will continue to operate its Claire’s and Icing brand stores worldwide during the restructuring.

BMW of North America is recalling 17,008 model year 2018 BMW X3 xDrive30i and X3 M40i vehicles.

The rear spoiler may not have been properly attached during assembly, or may be missing screws, possibly causing the spoiler to detach while the vehicle is being driven.

If the spoiler detaches while the vehicle is being driven, it can become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the spoiler, correcting its attachment as necessary, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin May 1, 2018.

Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

Nissan North America is recalling 49,385 model year 2011-2012 Nissan Jukes.

During an earlier recall, the fuel pressure sensor may not have been properly tightened, potentially causing the sensor to loosen and leak fuel.

A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.

What to do

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will tighten the fuel pressure sensor to the proper torque, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin May 7, 2018.

Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669.

Facebook finds itself under fire after a weekend revelation that data on millions of its users was used in an unauthorized manner.

It's being called a data breach, but the data wasn't used to steal your identity or empty your bank account. Instead, Facebook critics charge it was used to influence voters in the successful Brexit and Trump campaigns.

The news has raised the issue of what data big tech collects and how it is used, and it has garnered the attention of both U.S. and European regulators. In recent months, Facebook has moved to address how political operatives have used its platform to spread misleading or one-sided information under the guise of "news."

Personality quiz

According to Facebook, a professor used Facebook's log-in credentials to ask users to sign up for what was said to be a personality analytics tool that was to be used for academic research. A total of 270,000 Facebook users downloaded the app, and in doing so gave it permission to access Facebook data on themselves and all of their friends. The New York Times estimates the total number of files to be around 50 million.

Facebook says the professor then violated its terms of service by selling the data to an obscure political marketing company called Cambridge Analytica. That company reportedly used the data to target potential voters.

In the UK, it reportedly targeted Facebook users inclined to vote for Britain leaving the European Union. In the U.S., it reportedly targeted users on behalf of the Trump campaign.

The app was called “This Is Your Digital Life.” If you downloaded it, you and all your Facebook friends may have received political posts, depending on your political leanings, as gauged by the personality test.

New revelation

Facebook says it learned of the violation of its rules nearly three years ago and removed the app from Facebook. But the company said it learned only last week that not all of the collected data was deleted, as required. It has moved to suspend Cambridge Analytica's account.

"We are constantly working to improve the safety and experience of everyone on Facebook," Facebook said in a statement. "In the past five years, we have made significant improvements in our ability to detect and prevent violations by app developers."

Cambridge Analytica has issued a statement of its own, saying it complies with Facebooks terms of service and said it deleted all data that was not gathered in compliance with the rules.

It should be noted that a major part of Facebook's business is using analytics data to help advertisers specifically target ads. However, Facebook does not allow this information to be downloaded and sold to third parties.

In an effort to compete with Amazon and make more money from product searches, Google has rolled out a new program called Shopping Actions.

Aware of the fact that consumers often start their search for a product on Google but ultimately purchase the item on Amazon, the company has launched a program that will allow users to purchase items through Google Assistant and shopping ads in Search results.

Consumers can save their payment information and make purchases from retailers with instant checkout. Google gets a part of the profit from each, which is different from its typical ad revenue model.

‘Google-hosted checkout flow’

The number of searches containing the phase “how to buy” grew by a 85 percent in the past two years, according to Google. In launching Shopping Actions, the company is aiming to make more money from searches and give retailers a better chance of fighting off Amazon.

“Shopper Kai can do a search on Google for moisturizing hand soap, see a listing for up & up brand soap from Target, and add it to a Google Express cart,” the company said as an example of how the service works.

“Later, in the kitchen, Kai can reorder foil through voice, add it to the same cart using Google Home, and purchase all items at once through a Google-hosted checkout flow.”

Google is encouraging companies to see the service as an ally against Amazon.

“We have taken a fundamentally different approach from the likes of Amazon because we see ourselves as an enabler of retail...We see ourselves as part of a solution for retailers to be able to drive better transactions,” Google’s president for retail and shopping Daniel Alegre told Reuters.

Google is working with several retailers on the new service, including Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty, Costco, and Home Depot.

Recent reports suggest that Twitter may decide to block ads for cryptocurrency exchanges, initial coin offerings (ICO), cryptocurrency wallets, and crypto token sales.

The decision would follow in the footsteps of Google, Facebook, and credit card companies, and it would also be in line with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new stance on cryptocurrency. The ban will likely go into effect within the next two weeks.

Twitter is a prime promotion forum for cryptocurrency. On an average day, more than 110,000 crypto-related tweets show up on the platform, and the kings of crypto have follower bases to rival the biggest celebrities.

Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, has 738,000 Twitter followers. Vitalik Buterin — co-founder of decentralized cryptocurrency platform Ethereum and known as the “boy genius of crypto” — has 703,000 followers.

Why the concern?

Ever since Bitcoin became the digital investment darling, there have been 1,661 new crypto offerings that have seen the light of day. All that activity spurred a total market cap of more than $317 billion and more than $18 billion of trading volume in a single day.

And with any goldrush, there’s usually carpetbaggers and opportunists. The crypto company “Confido” (which means “I trust” in Italian) vanished with $374,000 of investors’ money in its pocket last November.

In January, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed complaints against My Big Coin Pay, claiming that the company was behind a Ponzi scheme that resulted in $6 million being misappropriated.

With social media being a sizeable meeting place for billions around the world, platforms like Twitter are natural hunting grounds for crypto peddlers. While Twitter’s move will have some impact, killing off all the deceptive snakes behind the currency won’t be easy, so government agencies have stepped up efforts to protect the consumer.

The SEC has taken up the consumer’s case as best as it can, laying down the law that any exchange platform dealing with the new digital cash needs to register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.

The Better Business Bureau and U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission have also produced guides to help consumers get a grip on virtual currency pump-and-dump schemes and “IRS-approved” virtual currency IRAs before they make an investment.

As internet-connected devices become more widespread, a growing number of consumers admit to spending a majority of their day online.

About 26 percent of adults in the U.S. say they’re online “almost constantly,” up from 21 percent who said the same in 2015. Forty-three percent of respondents said they go online “several times a day,” according to a new Pew Research study based on January data.

Overall, the researchers found that 77 percent of Americans go online on a daily basis. Just 11 percent said they only use the internet several times a week or less; the same percentage said they don’t use the internet at all.

Higher for younger adults

Time spent online each day was higher for younger adults and people in higher income brackets, the research found. Thirty-nine percent of 18- to 29-year-olds now go online almost constantly and 49 percent go online multiple times per day.

Americans between the ages of 30 and 49 aren’t too far behind, with about 36 percent using the internet almost constantly (an increase of 12 percentage points since 2015). Just 8 percent of those 65 and older go online almost constantly and just 30 percent go online multiple times per day.

Mobile connectivity a key factor

Adults with the ability to access the internet on the go through a mobile device are especially likely to be online for a significant portion of their day.

A majority of mobile internet users (89 percent) go online daily and 31 percent go online almost constantly. By contrast, 54 percent of Americans who don’t use a mobile device to go online do so daily and just 5 percent say they go online almost constantly.

Role of household income

People in higher income brackets are also more likely to be on the internet frequently.

About 35 percent of adults with an annual household income of $75,000 or more are on the internet almost constantly and 91 percent use it daily, according to the study. Just 24 percent of people making less than $30,000 are on the internet almost constantly.

People living in non-rural areas are also more likely to be online a lot. Among adults who say they’re online almost constantly, 32 percent live in urban areas, 27 percent are suburban residents, and only 15 percent are rural residents.