• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, March 5, 2004

Three Fourths of US Internet Population, Two Fifths of Americans, Using Search Engines

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that 114.5 million, or 39 percent of Americans, used a search engine during January 2004. The 114.5 million unique users, representing 76 percent of the active online U.S. population, each spent nearly forty minutes using search engines during the month.

"Search engines continue to be the primary tool people use to navigate the Web," said Jason Levin, analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "With the big search players having recently updated their search capabilities, Internet users should expect to find even better search results from the major search engines in the near future."

Top 5 Search Destinations, January 2004 (U.S. Home and Work)

	Unique Audience (000)	Active Reach (%)
1. Google	59,327	39.37
2. Yahoo! Search	45,774	30.38
3. MSN Search	44,651	29.63
4. AOL Search	23,394	15.53
5. Ask Jeeves	12,792	8.49

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView, January 2004

And, Nielsen//NetRatings top sites in computers, electronics, education, careers, travel and automotive during mid February at home:

Top 10 Computers & Consumer Electronics Destinations Week ending Feb. 22, 2004
	Unique Audience (000)	Active Reach (%)
Microsoft	41,903	37.33
Real	9,608	8.56
Gator Network	5,282	4.71
Apple	5,279	4.7
WhenU	3,943	3.51
McAfee	3,822	3.41
KaZaA	3,165	2.82
eBay Electronics	3,048	2.72
Hewlett Packard	2,967	2.64
FunWebProducts.com	2,901	2.58
Top 10 Education & Careers Destinations Week ending Feb. 22, 2004
	Unique Audience (000)	Active Reach (%)
Monster	3,007	2.68
CareerBuilder	2,539	2.26
Yahoo! HotJobs	1,536	1.37
U.S. Dept. of Education	1,254	1.12
AOL Research & Learn	782	0.7
ChooseADegree	743	0.66
Merriam-Webster	540	0.48
University of California at Berkeley	436	0.39
harvard.edu	436	0.39
About Homework Help	434	0.39
Top 10 Travel Destinations Week ending Feb.15, 2004
	Unique Audience (000)	Active Reach (%)
MapQuest	4,997	4.43
Expedia	3,129	2.78
Orbitz.com	2,470	2.19
Travelocity	2,245	1.99
Southwest Airlines	1,656	1.47
AOL Travel	1,417	1.26
Hotels.com	1,271	1.13
Hotwire.com	1,096	0.97
Yahoo! Travel	1,042	0.92
tripadvisor	1,038	0.92
Top 10 Automotive Destinations Week ending Feb.15, 2004
	Unique Audience (000)	Active Reach (%)
eBay Motors	3,581	3.18
Kelley Blue Book	908	0.81
MSN Autos	707	0.63
AutoTrader.com	701	0.62
Cars.com	450	0.4
Autoweb.com	410	0.36
Ford	408	0.36
AAA	405	0.36
carsdirect.com	384	0.34
Honda	364	0.32

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings US, Home