Search Engine Stats Solution and Maintenance!

Search Engine Marketing is an increasingly popular tool in successful marketers' media mix. If you have any doubt about the market reach through major search engine, let us share with you some search engine facts:

Search Engine Stats

Share of Worldwide and U.S. Consumer Searches, January 2003 (includes searches at sub-channels such as Yahoo! Finance or MSN Shopping)
	Worldwide English-Speaking	United States
Google	33%	23%
Yahoo!	24%	26%
MSN	19%	17%
AOL Proprietary & WWW	12%	20%
Source: comScore Media Metrix qSearch

Share of Total U.S. Searches by Location, January 2003
	Home Users	Work Users	University Users
Yahoo!	25%	26%	27%
AOL	25%	14%	18%
Google	23%	27%	31%
MSN	15%	22%	12%
Source: comScore Media Metrix qSearch

While a January 2003 OneStat report indicates that the global usage share of Yahoo increased from 20.6 percent to 22.1 percent since November 2002, the global usage share of Google decreased 0.4 percent during that time.

Search Engine Global Usage Share
Google	54.7%
Yahoo	22.1%
MSN Search	9.5%
AOL Search	3.7%
Terra Lycos	2.8%
Altavista	2.5%
Askjeeves	1.5%
Source: OneStat, January 2003

Data from qSearch demonstrates reveals that smaller sites, such as Dogpile and Ask Jeeves, appear to have earned positions as "destination" search sites, demonstrated by visitor-to-searcher conversion rates of 83 and 75 percent, respectively. Dogpile's meta-search capability, which allows users to search multiple engines at once, and Ask Jeeves's natural language search capability have clearly helped establish these sites as important resources for a loyal base of consumers.

Average Visitor-to-Searcher Conversion Rate, January 2003
	Avg Visitor-to- Searcher Conversion Rate	Avg Weekly Searches per Searcher
Total U.S. Internet	64%	10.8
Dogpile	83%	5.0
Google	82%	9.4
Ask Jeeves	75%	4.4
Altavista	58%	4.8
AOL	54%	7.9
MSN	52%	4.9
Yahoo!	51%	7.1%
Lycos	30%	2.8
Netscape	25%	4.2
Source: comScore Media Metrix qSearch

While comScore analyzes the search engines, OneStat takes a look at the search phrases that drive traffic to sites.

Most Popular Word Phrases
2 word phrases	29.22%
1 word phrase	24.76%
3 word phrases	24.33%
4 word phrases	12.34%
5 word phrases	5.43%
6 word phrases	2.21%
7 word phrases	0.94%
Source: OneStat, April 2003

Percentage of total population who are Internet users

Demographics for Search

Year 2000 = 58%
Year 2001 = 57%
Year 2002 = 62%

Most popular place of use
At home

Male	61%
Female	62%
Age
2-11	3.9%
12-17	11.8%
18-24	8.6%
25-34	17.5%
35-49	31.5%
45+	37.0%
55+	17.3%
65+	6.6%

Time on Search Engine

U.S. Consumers Online

(in minutes per session)

Google	24.1
Altavista	18
Ask Jeeves	16.2
Yahoo!	10.7
Lycos	7.6
AT&T	7.5
Netscape	7.3
AOL.com	6.9
iWon	6.9
MSN	6

July 02

July 01

Online

177.2 mil

173.6 mil

Sessions

Hours

19.2

16.5

Pageviews

1267

1114

Online Shoppers

19%	of total population
32%	of Internet Users

Sources: Comscore Media Metrix and Nielsen/Netratings

The Pew Internet and American Life Project conducted a recent study on how important search engines are for users. The report is dated July 3, 2002, so it's very current.

The report, based on extensive research, surveys, and analysis, says that more than eight in ten American internet users have gone to search engines to find information on the Web.

Further, more than one in four, or about 33 million adults, use a search engine on a daily basis. Fully 85% of American internet users have used an online search engine to find information on the Web. Only sending or reading email outranks search-engine queries as an online activity.

The study also examined individual differences and search engine use. Some of the key findings:

	Men are more likely than women to use a search engine on a typical day (33%, compared to 25% of women).
	College graduates are also more likely to use a search engine on a typical day (39%, compared to 20% of high school graduates)
	Internet users who have been online for three or more years are also heavy search engine users (39% on a typical day, compared to 14% of those who got access in the last six months).

Other interesting facts . . .

	A study from IMT Strategies found that a company's presence within search properties is the most important factor in maintaining high brand awareness -- more so than print, radio, or TV advertising (Sales & Marketing Management Magazine, January 2001).
	NPD Group study shows search engine positions are 2 to 3 times more effective in generating sales than banner ads.
	According to a survey of Web marketers by WebCMO, search engine marketing was rated as the most effective means of promoting a Web site beating banner advertising, e-mail, and off-line promotion.
	Nine out of ten web users visit a search engine, portal or community site each month. They also revisit frequently, around five times per month.
	Search engines are the top way consumers find new web sites online, used by 73.4% of those surveyed.
	Search engine positioning was the top method cited by web site marketers to drive traffic to their sites (66%), followed by email marketing (54%).
	On average, Americans experience "search rage" if they don't find what they want within 12 minutes.
	97 percent of Fortune 100 companies had some type of site architecture problem that might give them problems being found by search engines.
	Americans search the web practically every other day. Nearly 1/3 search once or more per day.
	On average, Americans spend 1.5 hours per week searching for information.

Stay Current With Changes in Search Engine Marketing.

There’s no such thing as a learning curve in the field of Search Engine Marketing. Just about the time you’ve got it figured out, it branches off in another direction. That’s why you need a partner who can advise you on what lies ahead. Keep up-to-date with the latest search engine news, request your Link2CITY Inc newsletter today.