Americans tend to search by actual or perceived type when in search of themselves or their interests, according to a new joint survey by MSN and Harris Interactive which looked into Netizens' online search habits.
The study indicated that New York respondents were most likely to hunt for investment news and Los Angeles respondents were more likely to focus on entertainment, while so-called Generation X respondents – the first Internet embracers, said the surveyors – were most likely to hunt for dates (blind and otherwise) and romantic interests in cyberspace.
Baby Boom respondents were most likely to hunt for health, weather, and culinary information; mature adults (classified by the surveyors as age 59 and up) were more likely to search ancestral roots and family histories as well as investments; and younger adults were most likely to research education and career information as well as looking up friends, the survey revealed.
Classified by gender, men were more likely than women to search on automotive, technological, and scientific topics, while women were more likely than men to search for health, fashion, and celebrity news and scandals, the poll showed.
Overall, among the 2,200 adult responses to the poll, 39 percent said they looked for "themselves" online, while 29 percent said they looked for family members, and 36 percent for lost friends; 17 percent hunted for a former love interest.
The survey results did not indicate the most likely categories to search related to adult Internet entertainment.
MSN commissioned the poll in tandem with the July 1 launch of its new MSN Search home page, a plain enough page àla Google with fast loading times and faster information access. The poll was conducted during late June and early July.
MSN said fewer people than you might think actually find what they want, even if most people are generally pleased with how they're searching the Net so far.
"Most people are satisfied with their search engines; but according to the survey, there is a significant minority – 29 percent – who only sometimes or rarely find what they want, which is why we have more improvements rolling out," said MSN search product manager Justin Osmer, announcing the survey results. "Our vision is to go beyond today's basic search services and deliver faster, more relevant results. For example, MSN plans to offer direct answers to people's questions in plain English. In order to do that, it's important for us to understand how people use search engines and what they're searching for when they're online."
Nearly half the poll respondents said they used search engines at least once a day, and over two-thirds said search engines were the quickest way to get the information they sought, MSN and Harris said.
