Research Reflects Growing Power Of Search

The number of search engine referrals has increased worldwide reflecting the continued importance of the method to advertisers, according to new research from web analysts, WebSide Story.

The research shows that as of early March 2003, search sites accounted for 13.4% of global referrals, up from 7.1% in 2002. The UK has one of the highest search referral rates of any country, with 18% of sites being accessed through search sites in 2003, up from 11.5% in 2002.

The continued popularity of search sites will be welcome news to online advertisers who may have feared that changing web habits, such as the increase of direct navigation, may have eroded the importance of search engines such as Google (see internetgraph).

The use of direct navigation did increase, with 65.48% of users accessing sites this way in 2003, compared with 50.21% of users in 2002. These results reflect the growing maturity of the web and the importance of investing in content as well as advertising, as it is the content which will keep users coming back to sites, bypassing any search engines.

Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for StatMarket at WebSide Story commented: “People are more efficient in their web use. The trend is that they either navigate directly to a web site they already know, or use a search engine to find a new one.”

New findings from internet research group, Dynamic Logic, have revealed that sponsorship increases the effectiveness of online advertising across the board (see Sponsorship Outperforms Traditional Online Advertising).

WebSide Story: 020 606 95 35 www.websidestory.com

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