Several communications-focused blogs have noted the release of a new Data Memo from the folks over at the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Twenty-six percent of adult Internet users in the U.S. have used rated or reviewed a product, service or person using an online rating system, according to the report. That’s more than 33 million people.

“At its best, the use of reputation systems builds community, adds knowledge to groups, and elevates the accountability of the institutions and people being rated,” the report editorializes. “Online reputation systems can enable people in making decisions about which users to trust, or to compare their opinions to others’.”

The highest percentage of people who use rating systems have longer experience on the Net, use broadband, are better educated, and have higher incomes.

The numbers don’t approach the 93% who use e-mail or the 84% who use search engines. But, according to the study, it’s comparable to the number of people who engage in other common online activities like listening to live or streaming broadcasts, and it exceeds the number who download files.

Download the study