Search Engine Use On the Rise, Study Says

Almost half of all Internet users use search engines, up from about one-third of searchers in 2002, says a study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

What has changed in the search world that might account for this increase? “One likely reason is that users can now expect to find a high-performing, site-specific search engine on just about every content-rich Web site that is worth its salt,” the report says. “With a growing mass of Web content from blogs, news sites, image and video archives, personal Web sites, and more, Internet users have an option to turn not only to the major search engines, but also to search engines on individual sites, as vehicles to reach the information they are looking for.”

Another reason may be that fully 55 percent of American homes have a high-speed Internet connections.

While younger Internet users (55 percent of 18 to 29 year olds) are more likely than their older counterparts (40 percent of 50 to 64 year olds) to search on a daily basis, overall, those who use search engines tend to be “socially upscale” men with at least some college education and incomes more than $50,000 a year, the study says. Some 66 percent of college graduates, 49 percent of those with some college education, and 32 percent with a high school education or less conduct Internet searches daily. They’re also more likely to have at least six years of online experience and homes that are wired with high-speed connections.

Just about equal numbers of men (91 percent) and women (88 percent) say they’ve used search engines, but men (53 percent) are significantly more likely than women (45 percent) to search, the study says. Meanwhile, men seem to be more aware than women about the differences between paid and unpaid search results, the report adds.

The rise in search engine use is fast approaching the 60 percent of Internet users who use email, the Web’s all-time killer app, the study says. By comparison, from 2002-2008, the use of email on a typical day rose from 52 percent to 60 percent, just a 15 percent growth rate.

These new figures propel Internet searches well ahead of other popular Internet activities, such as checking the news, which 39 percent of users do daily, or checking the weather, which 30 percent do on a typical day.