Search Engine Marketing Firm iProspect Survey Confirms Search Engine Loyalty Exists; Over 87 Percent of Web Users Trust Specific Search Engines With Their Queries

[April 14, 2004]

Search Engine Marketing Firm iProspect Survey Confirms Search Engine Loyalty Exists; Over 87 Percent of Web Users Trust Specific Search Engines With Their Queries

WATERTOWN, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- April 14, 2004 -- iProspect(R), the Original(R) Search Engine Marketing Firm (www.iprospect.com), today announced that results from a recent survey indicate that 56.7 percent of Internet users use the same search engine or directory when they are looking for information, and another 30.5 percent of Web users have a few specific search engines they use regularly. A small amount of Web users, 12.8 percent, said they use a different search engine each time, depending on what they are looking for at that moment. This shows that search engine loyalty truly exists across a vast (87.2) majority of Web users.

The iProspect Search Engine User Attitudes Survey results also revealed that specific search engines have more loyal users than others. Looking at the loyalty rate within the top search properties, according to MarketShare, Google has a loyalty rate with its users of 65.8 percent, Yahoo! has a loyalty rate of 55.2 percent, MSN has a loyalty rate of 53.7 percent and AOL nets 48.6 percent loyalty from its users.

Additionally, iProspect found that 91.8 percent of respondents would modify and re-launch their search using the same search engine after being dissatisfied with the first three pages of results returned by their initial search. This figure is up significantly from the 71% figure recorded in a similar iProspect survey fielded in June, 2002. This suggests that over time users have developed even more confidence in their search engine of choice than in their own ability to create a query that will return their desired results.

"Looking at the loyalty rate across the top four search properties, it's clear that those properties with the greatest market share are also netting the highest user loyalty," said Robert Murray, President of iProspect. "Moreover, we believe there's a distinct correlation between high end user loyalty and the extent to which natural, unpaid or 'algorithmic' results to fulfill their users' queries. Those engines feeding up the most relevant results are netting the highest loyalty," he added.

Along with discovering search engine preferences among Internet users, iProspect also found that there is significant adoption of search engine tool bars. Surprisingly, 49.3 percent of respondents have at least one search tool bar installed in their browser. Looking at specific search engine tool bars, 22 percent of respondents said they had installed the Yahoo! tool bar, 19.7 percent had installed the Google tool bar, and 17.4 percent of users said they had installed the MSN toolbar into their browser.

"Search engines offering a tool bar are providing their users an easier way to search; and this ease of use undoubtedly has a positive impact on overall search engine loyalty," Murray said. "But the real opportunity lies with the 50-51% of users who have yet to install a toolbar. Which one they chose to install could most certainly impact both their search engine market share as well as their degree of search engine loyalty."

About the Survey

The iProspect Search Engine User Attitudes Survey was developed through a partnership between iProspect, WebSurveyor, Strategem Research and Survey Sampling International (SSI). Completed in March 2004, there were 1,679 survey respondents. Data was collected using WebSurveyor's online tool, and analyzed by both iProspect's research department and Strategem Research. Proper attribution requires that the survey is clearly identified as "The iProspect Search Engine User Attitudes Survey." Copies of the survey results can be obtained by contacting Deborah Hickey at dhickey@iprospect.com.

About iProspect

iProspect is The Original(R) Search Engine Marketing Firm. The company helps many of the world's most successful brands maximize their online marketing ROI though natural search engine optimization, paid inclusion management, pay per click management, web analytics and website conversion enhancement(sm). iProspect has published three books on search engine positioning, including Achieving Top-10 Rankings in Internet Search Engines, and most recently, Search Engine Positioning. Distinguished as a 2003 Inc. 500 and Deloitte & Touche Fast 500 fastest growing company in America, iProspect is located in Watertown, Massachusetts and can be reached at 1 800-522-1152, or by visiting www.iprospect.com.

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