How important are search engines?

Search engines are the top way consumers find new web sites online, used by 73.4% of those surveyed. Search engines are the top information resource Americans use when seeking answers. When searching answers to questions, search engines are used more than any other option including: consulting friends, using books, encyclopedias or dictionaries, going to the library, reading newspapers or magazines or looking something up in the yellow pages.

When users are looking for products online, they are far more likely to type the product name into a search engine rather than go into a "shopping" channel or click on ads. Nine out of ten web users visit a search engine or a website with search options on a "religious-like basis." These sites also command the most amount of time, with surfers spending an average of an hour and a half in and around the site. This means that nearly 95 million people spend a large portion of their day at sites like Google, AOL, Yahoo.

Between 40 and 70 percent of Americans reported that they searched the internet when making a variety of major decisions including: buying a car, choosing a school, searching for career training, researching a new hobby, helping friends through a serious illness, changing jobs, buying a house, meeting love interests and investing money.

From December 2001 to May 2002, search engine traffic has grown 11 percent to 92.3 million visitors. The leaders in the search space saw even more dramatic growth: Yahoo! Search grew 20 percent to 38.4 million; Microsoft's MSN Search saw a traffic increase of 16 percent, t o 42.4 million and Google--which syndicates its results to other sites -- including Yahoo! -- increased its traffic figures 54 percent, to 34.2 million.

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