As the Internet continues its astonishing growth (which is perhaps immeasurable now), users are curious about which site is ranked as the favorite ____. Much like the television medium, there are studies and ranking measurements that attempt to clarify this curiosity.
Well, another study attempting to document Internet favorites was conducted by ChangeWave Research and the results are as expected. According to InternetRetailer.com,the survey concluded that while Google is the search engine of choice (surprise, surprise), Yahoo! was voted as the web’s overall favorite site.
InternetRetailer’s report reveals out of the 1400 plus that were surveyed, 78% preferred Google as their search engine of choice, compared to a 14% rating for Yahoo! Search. This “disparity” was noticeable in toolbar usage as well. The study indicates 38% of those surveyed use Google’s toolbar, while only 28% confessed to using Yahoo’s.
However, the report also pointed out that while Google may be the most popular search engine, they are not the most popular web site. This accolade goes to Yahoo!, who garnered 32% of the vote, compared with 17% for Google.
Another area where Yahoo! out did Google was in email usage. Yahoo! Mail has 18% of those surveyed, while Google only received 5%. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that Gmail still operates on an invitation only basis., whereas anyone wanting a Yahoo! email account can go sign up at anytime.
Both entities scored extremely high on the user satisfaction ratings, with Yahoo! receiving a 94% percent rating and Google with 97%.
Certainly, news of the ChangeWave study is sure to please management teams at both companies; however, it is also likely that Yahoo! will continue to work on closing the preferential gap between theirs and Google’s search engine.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
