Online Search

An overview of our findings about who's online and what they do on the Web.

Internet users are very happy with their experiences searching the internet, but many are naive about how they search and the results they find.

The use of search engines is a top online activity and Americans increasingly feel they get the information they want when they perform search queries

40 million Americans, one third of all Internet users, have looked online for information about a place to live.

Fifty-two million Americans have looked online for information about jobs, and more than 4 million do so on a typical day.

85% of American Internet users have ever used an online search engine to find information on the Web and 29% of Internet users rely on a search engine on a typical day. Only the act of sending or reading email outranks search-engine queries as an on...

Those who have home broadband connections use the Internet differently from those who have dial-up connections. Broadband users spend more time online, do more things, and do them more often than dial-up Internet users.

Information on the Web is important to significant numbers of Americans when they are making important choices related to education and job training, investments and big-ticket purchases, and health care for themselves or for loved ones. Online mater...

Sixty-eight million Americans have used the Web sites of government agencies, a figure up from 40 million such users two years ago. They exploit their new access to government in wide-ranging ways, finding information to further their civic, professi...