It is the virtual equivalent of window-shopping, and a lot of us seem to be spending a lot of time doing it. "Wilfing" - or surfing the web without any real purpose - has become a new national pastime, according to a survey.
Although a newly-identified habit, more than two-thirds of the 33.7 million internet users in the UK admit to at least the occasional "wilf" (a term derived from the phrase "what was I looking for?"), while browsing the internet.
The lure of pop-up sites and flashing online adverts is, it seems, too appealing to resist for many internet users. Almost a quarter of those surveyed said they spent 30% or more of their internet time wilfing - the equivalent of spending an entire working day every fortnight pointlessly jumping between random pages.
The tendency to wilf is more prevalent among men than women. Gazing at a succession of pointless web pages also appeared to be the preserve of the young, with people aged 55 or over being three times less likely to browse absent-mindedly than those under 25.
The time-consuming practice appears to have destructive effects too: a third of males admitted that wilfing has a damaging effect on their relationship with a partner.
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