Cheezhead

A new report by eMarketer touts the growing importance of search engines by showing the closing gap between usage numbers of e-mail in contrast with search.

The report states:

Over
the past year there has been a sharp increase in search activity. From
June 2004 to September 2005 the use of search engines on a typical day
rose from 30% to 41% of the internet-using population, which itself has
grown in the past year.

It also adds: In
either case, it is clear that the use of search engines is edging up on
e-mail as the primary internet activity on any given day.

I talk a lot about the clutter that infiltrates the world’s marketplace. I believe it’s a major challenge for both human beings and marketers to connect as a result. Prospects are tuning out conventional advertising that shouts at them and instead turning to what they control, which are mediums like Google.

Whether it’s jobs, jeans or Jewish holidays, people are being trained that search engines are the starting point for any inquiry and connection. And as these numbers show, search is gaining in importance if organizations hope to get in front of customers.