Google As Go-To Guy

Google, and its competitors, have become the go-to source for practical information that fuels daily life in the United States. People default to search instead of using phone books, newspapers or travel and restaurant guides. If you are not factoring this into your communications strategy, you are not in the game.

Harris Interactive studied 2100 adults and found that half of all adults use a search engine every time they go online. 88 percent of those people are searching for specific information. The leading kinds of information searched are:

Directions: By car, train and every conveyance.

News: almost 1 in 8 Americans read their primary newspaper online. 4.5 out of 10 are searching for different or alternative views seeking to broaden their understanding of a topic. Women are more likely to be searching for medical and health news than men.

Shopping: 80 percent of those searching for goods or services are also searching for the best price or using comparison engines.

Names, Address and Phone Numbers: 54% prefer online to the phone book. Two-thirds of searches are for people, half are for local businesses.

Entertainment: People are searching for times, listings, prices and reviews.

The implications are that more and more local businesses need tohave a search strategy and that classic local retail advertising vehicles (Yellow Pages, newspapers, Val-Pak) must now compete with online properties.