New research however has shown once again that search engine usage is rapidly climbing. The Pew Internet & American Life Project and comScore Media Metrix have found that 41% of internet users in 2005 (approximately 59 million people) made use of a search engine on a typical day in September.
Those figures alone may mean very little, but in comparison to the same data from 2004, you can clearly see why we're getting excited. The 2005 data represents a 55% increase over June 2004 when only 30 percent of respondents used a search engine on a typical day.
ComScore Media Metrix's data shows an increase in search engine usage from 2004 to 2005 of 23 percent. That is 60.7 million users in September 2005 up from 49.3 million in September 2004.
For businesses big and small, that makes the search engines one big feeding ground. Through the use of search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) businesses can capture more of their target market, and this new research highlights why search engine marketing (SEM) is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12% - faster than all other online advertising.
But lets not forget that email still leads the way, as users are also spending more time with web-based email, according to comScore. Nonetheless, the focus is on search engine growth.
"Search engines are obviously a critical vehicle in reaching consumers during the buy cycle, but they also offer a rich source for consumer profiling, segmentation, and measurement of product demand," said the vice president of comScore Networks in a statement.
Following email and search, the top online activities are obtaining news (46%), job-related research (29%) and instant messaging (18%)
