The habit of going to a search engine has become so ingrained a behavior for Internet users that many input names like eBay or Yahoo into a search box instead of the address bar of the browser. Using search engines to get to top destinations works fine for users, but how does it impact you as a site publisher? Tell us at Requests for the term 'ebay' hit 13.871 million in November 2005, and 'google' followed at 13.301 million. No other term topped 8 million requests for the month, with 'yahoo' typed in 7.997 million times, 'mapquest' 7.431 million, and 'yahoo.com' 6.528 million. Using the search box is just easier, no matter how experienced the user. Newcomers or people who see the computer and the Internet as just another utility probably never have typed a term into the address bar of their browser and hit CTRL-Enter (IE) or Enter (Firefox and Opera) to get to eBay or Yahoo. And they don't care to do so. Microsoft has IE respond differently than either Firefox or Opera, regarding address bar behavior. Put 'ebay' into the IE6 address bar, or any term, and hit Enter. Instead of being delivered to eBay.com, IE6 sends the user directly to MSN Search results. Eventually, users can find ebay.com as the top organic link, but it appears under a block of sponsored links at the top of the page. Email the author to your Bookmarks. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
Searchers Use Engines As An Address Bar
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