41% of Americans Use Search

Posted on November 29, 2005

A new Pew Internet study has found that the number of people using search engines has climbed rapidly from 30% to 41% since July, 2004. CNET reports that this makes the second most popularity activity for web users behind email.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the number of U.S. Web users taking advantage of search engines has risen sharply since mid-2004--from 30 percent of the U.S. Web population in July 2004 to its current level of 41 percent, which translates to some 59 million Americans.
The Pew project also found that those likely to spend more time on search engines tend to be in their 30s and well-off.
The report added, "Those who use search engines on an average day tend to be heavy Internet users. They are much more likely to have broadband connections than dial-up connections; to log on to the Internet several times a day; and to have spent considerable time online during the day."

Search is now the second most popular web activity. Email is still number one. The News.com article also cites a study that found Google dominates the search engine marketshare with 46% of the market. Yahoo is a dismal second with 23% of the marketshare.

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