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    CAWI · n=1,004 · representative · October 2025
    INTERNET COMMUNICATION STUDY

    How Germany
    communicates digitally

    Internet Communication Study 2025/26:
    Email, AI and cloud in Germany

    Since 2009, Convios conducts an annual survey on how Germans use email, cloud services and AI. 16 waves. Over 16,000 respondents.

    0.0%
    WEB.DE + GMX: Market leaders
    0.0%
    use ChatGPT
    0.0%
    Privacy concerns about US corporations
    0.0%
    Gmail: Market share declining
    COMMISSIONED BY
    WEB.DE & GMX (United Internet)
    CONDUCTED BY
    Convios GmbH
    METHOD
    CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing)
    SINCE
    2009 · 16 waves
    AI USAGE IN GERMANY

    Who uses which AI services?

    First time with three-year trend. Broken down by provider, age group, gender and education.

    AI usage by age group
    P24, Wave 16, n=1.004. Multiple responses.
    • ChatGPT
    • Copilot
    • Gemini
    • Perplexity
    16–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960+0%25%50%75%100%
    87.5% of 16- to 19-year-olds use ChatGPT. Among those over 60: 26.6%. Gemini strongest at 30–39 (31.5%). Perplexity popular among under-30s (12.5–13.6%).
    34,3%

    use AI for product search

    P26, Wave 16

    53,8%

    reject autonomous AI shopping

    P27, Wave 16

    35,0%

    would use AI email management

    P28, Wave 16

    EMAIL MARKET GERMANY

    WEB.DE and GMX gain share. Gmail declines.

    Most used email address, 2009 to 2025. WEB.DE rises from 23.0% to 26.4%. Gmail falls from 17.5% to 13.8%. P8, Wave 1 to Wave 16.

    • GMX
    • Gmail
    • Outlook
    • T-Online
    • WEB.DE
    20092010201120122013201420152017201820192020202120222023202420250%8%16%24%30%
    66%

    primarily use email on smartphone

    P23, Wave 16

    50,1%

    stay out of habit

    P12, Wave 16

    82,2%

    don't pay for email

    P19, Wave 16

    DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

    Email beats chatbots and messengers

    77.7% prefer email for communication with businesses. 82.8% want order confirmations by email. Chatbots: 16.8%.

    Preferred channel to businesses P42, Wave 16
    0%25%50%75%85%EmailPhoneChatbotMessengerPostalmailSocialMedia
    Super app: Interest by age P43, Wave 16
    16–1941.7%
    20–2952.4%
    30–3953.6%
    40–4942.8%
    50–5932%
    60+23.4%
    DATA PRIVACY & CLOUD

    Trust, concerns, willingness to switch

    Concerns about US corporations P35, Wave 16
    Yes26.9%
    Partly41.5%
    No22.4%
    Don't know9.2%
    Cloud: US vs. DE P30, Wave 16
    0%7%14%21%28%GoogleDriveAppleiCloudMicrosoftAmazonDropboxT-OnlineGMXWEB.DE
    US DE
    28,3%

    reject any data usage

    P22, Wave 16

    57,5%

    would switch after data breaches

    P36, Wave 16

    8,1%

    want AI in the cloud

    P33, Wave 16

    SAMPLE STRUCTURE

    Regional distribution (Nielsen)

    22%
    NRW
    15.8%
    North
    15.1%
    Bavaria
    14%
    Hesse / RLP / Saar
    12.8%
    Baden-W.
    8.1%
    East
    8.1%
    Thuringia / Saxony
    4.1%
    Berlin
    P5, Wave 16. n=1,004. Men 48.7%, women 51.3%.
    16 YEARS OF SURVEY HISTORY

    From the first wave in 2009 to the AI survey 2025/26

    2009
    First wave. GMX 23.5%, WEB.DE 23.0%. Gmail at 3.0%.
    2013
    NSA scandal. Privacy concerns rise. GMX + WEB.DE at 52.4%.
    2015
    Mobile email doubles to 29.4%. Volume DE: 537 billion.
    2020
    Covid. 71.6% prefer email for B2C. Cloud usage rises.
    2023
    First AI survey. ChatGPT 54.3%. Cloud overtakes USB stick.
    2025
    WEB.DE and GMX gain share. Over 52% market share. First AI special analysis with three-year trend.
    2026
    Email beats chatbots and messengers. 78% prefer email for business communication.
    Press release →
    Conducted annually since 2009. Suspended once in 2016. AI special analysis since 2023. Over 16,000 respondents cumulated. Commissioned by WEB.DE and GMX (United Internet).
    POSITIONING

    Germany's only email market share time series

    ARD/ZDF, Bitkom, D21 and Postbank cover adjacent fields. None provides email market shares as a time series.

    Study
    Email
    Cloud
    Privacy
    AI
    Since
    Convios / WEB.DE & GMXTHIS STUDY
    Only email market share time series in Germany
    2009
    ARD/ZDF-Onlinestudie
    Media usage, no provider data
    1997
    Bitkom KI-Report
    Enterprise focus (600 companies)
    2017
    D21-Digital-Index
    Broad digital indexing, no email
    2013
    Postbank Digitalstudie
    Banking/shopping focus
    2015
    16

    Waves since 2009. Longest time series on internet communication in Germany.

    16.000+

    Respondents cumulated. Each wave n≈1,000, representative.

    4

    Dimensions: email, cloud, data privacy, AI

    METHODOLOGY
    POPULATION
    German internet users aged 16 and above. Representative quota sample by age, gender and Nielsen region.
    SURVEY METHOD
    CAWI. Online panel. Approx. 40 questions, 12 minutes. October 2025.
    SAMPLE
    n=1,004 (Wave 16). Cumulated: over 16,000. Commissioned by: 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH.
    PRESS AND CITATIONS
    2012Heise OnlineiCloud unter den meistbenutzten Cloud-Diensten
    2015iBusinessDeutsche bevorzugen GMX und WEB.DE
    2016W&VDas sind die meistgenutzten E-Mail-Dienste
    2018PresseportalSprachassistenten: Herausforderung für Datenschutz
    2020PresseportalE-Mail bevorzugter Kanal für B2C-Kommunikation
    2021StatistaHeimische Anbieter dominieren E-Mail-Markt
    2022Marketing-Börse52% nutzen primär GMX und WEB.DE
    2023Stadt-BremerhavenCloud überholt erstmals USB-Stick
    2024BNNDeutsche nutzen KI bislang nur zum Zeitvertreib
    2025GMX NewsroomWEB.DE und GMX legen zu, Gmail verliert
    2026GMX NewsroomE-Mail schlägt Chatbots und Messenger
    100+ publications since 2009. GMX Newsroom, Heise, W&V, Statista, Presseportal, BNN, it-daily.net, Stadt-Bremerhaven, iBusiness, Marketing-Börse, Melaschuk-Medien.
    FULL RESULTS

    46 tables. 16 waves. All cross-tabs.

    Breakdowns by age, gender, education, income, Nielsen region and email provider. Convios advises mid-market companies on AI strategy, regulatory compliance and software delivery.

    Key findings as PDF. For the full study we'll schedule a call. No spam.

    46 data tables
    Full cross-tabs
    16 waves
    Time series since 2009
    Demographic splits
    Age, gender, region, education
    AI special analysis
    Providers, tasks, shopping

    Questions about the study?

    Dr. Oliver Gausmann, Convios GmbH. Press inquiries, licensing, custom analyses. Advisory on AI strategy, regulatory compliance and software delivery.

    Convios GmbH · Landsberg am Lech · Internet Communication Study · Since 2009