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I am trying to find out a rather particular statistic. What I would really like to know is:
What proportion of people find a site by:
1) Using the top dozen or so search engines
2) Using other search engines (ie the ones that most SEOs I think don't bother with - anything that isn't AV, FAST, lycos, Excite, NL, google db, inktomi, go's infoseek; did I miss any?)
3) Using a directory
4) Using a banner ad
5) Following links in pages
6) Using offline advertising
7) None of the above.
I suppose I am particularly interested in the ratio of 1:2
The sort of things I have seen before (eg in searchenginewatch & the links therein) I don't think actually can provide these sorts of figures, as they tend not to say how many searches are done on each (eg I use AV & Google at least once a week so these would feature equally in most statistics; however, I use Google 100 times more than AV).
Links to any info gratefully received; mediametrix etc may have the goods, but I really can't find it at all.
[gvu.gatech.edu...]
The unfortunate thing is that it might not answer directly Question 1 and 2 but you might be able to draw that information from the raw data. It is also about two years old. But it has 4 or 5 year history that makes great reading for insomnia. I am somewhat surprised that additional surveys haven't been published. A quick read of the site indicates a major revamp of the survey structure. It would be a shame if this resource either cease to exist or became a profit making operation that only large corporations could afford.
The GVU survey was made at a time when Americans reigned almost supreme on the Internet. Since then 150 or so million non-US users have come online, so deductions to answer your questions can no longer be drawn from it.
The Websnaphot figures are based on measuring traffic to American servers, which introduces a major bias in favour of Americans. They did measure non-US server traffic until May 1999, but not since. Non-Americans may not be so different from others when it comes to your questions 4-7, so you might be able to use them for that.
MMXI and Nielsen Netratings have reliable figures based on good methodology, but only for the rather few countries they measure. These reports will answer your questions 1 and 2 but cost $$$$$$$ or €€€€€€€ if you prefer that. The top 10 are however published free for some countries. See
[mmxi.com...]
Pieces of intelligence:
# According to a study by Global Reach, only 32% of all surfers access the net in English. That figure can be expected to drop as time goes by and the Internet grows more quickly outside of the English language area than inside of it.
# From information gathered so far in the Europan forum, it looks as if a purely local search engine or directory is the leading in almost all countries.
# Major league American SE:s are often found in the top ten after a couple of local engines/directories. But since there is no such thing as a European market, the European reach figures that they like to present, have no meaning.
