Online: Email, search and ... what else?

The number of people using Internet search tools to crawl jumped in 2005, steadily at No. 2 - just after email exchange - in the list of online goals

According to the latest Pew Internet and American Life (PIALP) results, out of 94 million Americans online on the same day, 63% use search engines, up 7% from June. / 2004.

Until now, the search and news coverage of the news always disputed the No. 2 position fiercely. However, in the past year, Search had a spectacular jump to widen the gap with current news (Only 46% of the US Internet population will read online)

According to the research results, the rate of search engine use is higher in well-off and highly educated subjects, along with households that are using high-speed broadband connections.

"If you're cooking dinner and wondering which cooking ingredients to use, then with a dial-up connection, you'll probably tip your housewife handbook. But everything will be different. If you use broadband, chances are you will access your favorite search engine, "said Rainie, research project director.

Among the purposes of network access, Email is still the most popular application - up to 77% of people accessing the network use this service. (Another study by comScore said that on average, we spend about 24 minutes a day checking and writing mail, compared to 20 minutes for search.)

However, this rate is still 8% lower than the 2004 poll. PIALP experts explain that users are increasingly concerned about viruses and other security risks. They can be distributed via email, or they may be moving to prefer IM. Another possibility is that users are suffering from information overload so unconsciously, they use less to email.

A number of recent announcements by Internet research firms have made similar comments: email is gradually being replaced by IM instant messaging, in the same way that mobile phones are replacing landline phones.

PIALP's investigation was conducted from September 13 to October 14 with an error of +/- 3%.

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