Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, today reported that online search conducted across approximately 60 search engines in the U.S. rose 39 percent year-over-year in January 2006 from four billion searches to nearly 5.7 billion, the highest number of online searches to date (see Table 1).
Nielsen//NetRatings reported last month that online search in December 2005 rose 55 percent from a year ago to nearly 5.1 billion searches, corresponding to the aggressive growth in search marketing revenue during the same period.
Table 1. Total Online Searches, Jan 2005 vs. 2006 (U.S.)
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Month Online Searches
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January 2005 4,085,880
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January 2006 5,699,528
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Y-O-Y Growth 39%
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From December 2005 to January 2006, the number of online searches jumped 12 percent, due to seasonal lowered searching during the holidays. The 5.7 billion searches conducted online in January 2006 marks the highest number of searches so far (see Table 2).
“Web users are conducting more searches not because they can’t find what they’re looking for, but because search as a utility has become deeply ingrained into people’s everyday lives,” said Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings.
Table 2. Online Searches, Jan 2005-Jan 2006, (U.S.)
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Month Searches
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Jan-05 4,085,880
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Feb-05 3,824,261
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Mar-05 4,353,624
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Apr-05 4,211,931
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May-05 4,311,035
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Jun-05 4,447,406
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Jul-05 4,604,161
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Aug-05 5,047,101
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Sep-05 5,060,883
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Oct-05 5,134,713
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Nov-05 5,105,761
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Dec-05 5,069,377
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Jan-06 5,699,528
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