Google Preferred by ‘Sophisticated’ Searchers
Earlier this week John Battelle made reference to a search-engine usage survey conducted by investment firm SG Cowen & Co. Today MediaPost (reg req’d) reports on the same survey:
People who have been online seven years or longer are far more likely to use Google for search than Yahoo!, MSN, or AOL, according to a new report by investment bank SG Cowen & Co. The study, based on a survey of 1,000 online users, found that 60 percent of those who used Google as their primary search engine had been online since at least 1997 . . .
Among the survey’s top-level findings/conclusions are the following:
* The longer a consumer has been online, the more likely he or she is to use Google as a primary search engine.
* Google users are much more likely to have an annual household income of over $60,000 than users of Yahoo, MSN, and AOL.
The survey report also argues that Google and Yahoo! will increase market share going forward.
The central conclusion of the report—that the more sophisticated Internet users become, the more they’re likely to use Google—is of course an empirical question. The answer will be revealed in time. But it is a fascinating supposition and warrants a tracking survey.
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Greg Sterling, Local Search and Convergence Columnist – Greg Sterling is managing editor of The Kelsey Group who also writes the Local Media Journal Blog.
