I'm preparing a whitepaper on a theory I have:  The notion of web surfing
is disappearing as internet users are following links less and using
search engines more.  I interviewed Geoff Johnston (VP of Web Side
Story) yesterday and he was able to provide me with some statistics
showing:

People are going directly to websites more.
People are using links less.
While search engine usage double from 2001 to 2002, it has since leveled off.

I?d like to know how many people are using the internet now, and how
often they use the search engines.  I need to be able to compare this
number to past numbers so that I can chart trends in the habits of
internet users.  I also need these answers from reputable online
organizations that I can cite using the internet.

Thanks in advance!

I have heard that P2P networks and instant messengers are more often
used than web browsers now.

mister2u-ga:

That's interesting, where did you hear this?  If its an article on the
net, I'd like to read it.  I wouldn't doubt tht IM has taken over
internet use, but I'd like to see some stats showing how IM useage has
escalated recently.

Thanks,

NEIL

According to the Pew Internet project (www.pewinternet.org), 69
million americans go online each day which represents 54% of the
Americans with internet access. Further, they estimate that 31% of the
Americans with Internet access access search engines, 23% surf the web
for fun and 14% IM.

These figures are based on several different surveys conducted from
March through December 2003. I would suggest that you download their
data sets to test your theories. You can access their data here:
http://www.pewinternet.org/datasets/index.asp. Best of luck.

Patrick

Patrickbkelly:

Thanks for the information; the site you listed is pretty extensive
and it will take me some time to sift through it for the information I
need.  PEW looks very promising and I really appreciate the link!

NEIL

Sorry I can't remember where I read that.