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Effective
Internet Search: Research
Search Popularity
by Judith Gill
The Internet is now an integral part of the everyday
lives of a majority of Americans, whether at home, at work or
in both locales. In less than a decade, it has been
transformed from a technological curiosity to the place
millions of Americans shop every day, to a place they go for
news, information and communication and to a place for both
entertainment and serious business.
- Consumer WebWatch, April 2002 [1]
 The Internet — one of the most important information tools available today.
An estimated 709 to 945 million people use it worldwide [2]. And for many, it's the
information medium of first resort, with the majority of users ranking it ahead
of television, radio, newspapers, and magazines.
What's everyone doing online? They're searching.
In the United States, about 134 million American adults
presently use the Internet [3]; some 64
million employ it daily [6]. And as the
table below indicates, searching is one of the most popular
online activities [4]; some say the
most important [5, and the most
frequently conducted after e-mail [4], [6]. In fact, obtaining information quickly
was the top reason cited for going online in both 2001 and 2002
[7].
Top 5 Online Activities
|
| Internet Activities |
% of Americans
with Internet Access |
Survey Date |
| Send e-mail |
91% |
February 2004 |
| Use a search engine to find
information |
88% |
June 2003 |
| Search for a map or driving
directions |
84% |
February 2004 |
| Do an Internet search to answer a
specific question |
80% |
Nov.-Dec. 2003 |
| Research a product or service
before buying it |
78% |
February 2004 |
| Source:
Pew Internet & American Life Project, Internet Activities,
April 23, 2004 [4] |
On a typical day over 38 million American Internet users
(35%) turn to search engines for their information needs;
experienced users, even more often (39%) [4], [6] — and they conduct some 319 million
searches per day [8].
Searches per Day - January 2003
|
Search
Engine |
Search Hours
per Month
(in millions) |
Search
Minutes
per Day
(in millions) |
Searches per
Day
(in millions) |
| Google |
18.7 |
37 |
112 |
| AOL Search |
15.5 |
31 |
93 |
| Yahoo |
7.1 |
14 |
42 |
| MSN Search |
5.4 |
11 |
32 |
| Ask Jeeves |
2.3 |
5 |
14 |
| InfoSpace |
1.1 |
2 |
7 |
| AltaVista |
0.8 |
2 |
5 |
| Overture |
0.8 |
2 |
5 |
| Netscape |
0.7 |
1 |
4 |
| Earthlink |
0.4 |
1 |
3 |
| Looksmart |
0.2 |
0 |
1 |
| Lycos |
0.2 |
0 |
1 |
| TOTALS |
53.2 |
106 |
319 |
| Source:
SearchEngineWatch.com, February 25, 2003 [8] |
Implications for you: The Internet has evolved into a
mainstream information tool for millions of people around the
world. Given its popularity, the importance of improving
your online search skills to find information quickly and
accurately cannot be overstated.
References & Links
- Consumer WebWatch, A
Matter of Trust: What Users Want From Web Sites, Princeton
Survey Research Associates, April 16, 2002:
www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/1_abstract.htm
- Summary: Internet Usage, About.com, Paul Gil, January
20, 2004:
netforbeginners.about.com/cs/technoglossary/f/FAQ3.htm
-
SearchEngineWatch.com,
Nielsen NetRatings Search Engine Ratings, Danny Sullivan,
February 25, 2003:
www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156451
- Pew Internet &
American Life, Latest Trends, 2004:
- Jupiter Research,
1999, as reported in the Journal of the American Society of
Information and Technology, Web User Studies: A Review and
Framework for Future Work, B.J. Jansen and U. Pooch,
52(3), p. 235-246, 2000:
jimjansen.tripod.com/academic/pubs/wus.html
-
Pew Internet & American Life
Project, The popularity and importance of search engines: Pew Internet Project Data Memo,
August, 2004:
www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Data_Memo_Searchengines.pdf
-
UCLA Center for
Communication Policy, The UCLA Internet Report: Surveying
the Digital Future -Year Three, February 2003:
www.ccp.ucla.edu/pages/internet-report.asp
- SearchEngineWatch.com,
Searches per Day, Danny Sullivan, February 25, 2003:
www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156461
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