According to the study, 60 million adults, or 41 percent of the U.S. Internet population, use search engines on a “typical day.” Only about 30 percent reported daily use during the same study in 2004.
The increase, according to the report’s author, Lee Rainie, means search engine use is quickly becoming a primary Internet activity.
"This means that the use of search engines is edging up on email on any given day," Rainie said.
However, search engines can’t quite pat themselves on the back yet, since email is still firmly in place as the top Internet activity. According to the report, 52 percent of U.S. Internet users reported sending and receiving email on a typical day, a seven percent increase from the same study last year.
Also, users spend considerably more time with email than they do on search engines, reporting an average of 24 minutes versus 3.5 minutes respectively.
Nonetheless, Rainie said the results prove that the search engine market is robust, no doubt good news to webmasters focused on search engine optimization.
