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Search ‘Only’ 5% of Online Activity - Why Is That Bad?
By Mike Murray | August 15, 2007
I’m a little surprised by a new study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA), but not in a way you might not think.
The bottom line is that internet users spend 5% of their online time with search. I was surprised it was that high. Actually, the OPA has been tracking this and other activities for four years. Search used to account for 3%, so that’s a 35% increase.
For some reason, the ODP characterized it this way: “However the total time being spent with search remains relatively low, accounting for just 5% of Internet users online time in 2007.”
Of course it’s low. Search is a starting point that should lead to other sources of information. Can you imagine a professional spending a great deal of time looking at search engine results? OK, of course you could. But that’s a special community (open to others of course), not the consumer base the OPA tracks.
The bulk of the study focused on the shift from communications to content as a focus area for consumers when they’re online. I think the trend bodes well for search as well.
As a percentage of online time, viewing content (video, news, etc.) has increased from 34% to 47% — a 37% increase. Meanwhile, communication activities dropped 28% (people switching from e-mail to AOL Instant Messenger).
As consumers look at content - and make decisions about what’s worth their while, web site marketers should be making sure it’s optimized for natural search engines and worthy of inbound links. Plus, the trend is a reminder that businesses need to expand their presence on quality content web sites and in communities that can drive more traffic.
Search may be 5%, but that’s only part of the picture the search marketer must consider.
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August 16th, 2007 at 8:48 am
I think the study correctly prefaced it’s comment by saying “relatively low.” In comparison to other activities, it is relatively low.
What I don’t understand is that in the release, the study acknowledges “(t)he improvement in search allows consumers to more easily and quickly find the exact content they are looking for, increasing the likelihood they will engage more deeply with that content.” But how does that mesh with the time people are searching actually going up? If we can find things more quickly and can engage more deeply, why spend more time searching?
August 16th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I think its safe to say eventually we’ll hit a certain percentage that’ll remain constant in terms of search use.
1. I interpret this increase as trust in search has improved resulting in people instinctively reverting back to a search rather than finding one site and following the references from it to the next site as much.
2. More and more people actually know what a search engine is. Google is a common term where as it would have still been relatively unknown in mainstream society 5 years ago.
3. We are seeing a more web savvy audience every day. People that realize that there is more to the internet than just typing in a site at the top of your browser or sending email.
August 17th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I think that as technology changes and the internet becomes more excusable to people all the time (iPhone) search will continue to grow. Debates at the local watering hole can now be solved with a simple search. If you want to know where to get Chinese in a new neighborhood while walking down the street all you have to do is search on your phone as you walk. Things that we once could not search because of limitation no longer exist. Everyone will have this ability in a couple of years, just like how everyone now has a cell phone.