The Search Engine Report, January 3, 2001, Number 50 Survey Finds Search Engine Referrals Low

New statistics from WebSideStory's StatMarket service show that search engines generate only 7 percent of traffic to web sites, far below the leading methods of direct navigation or following
links. The low figure is very surprising, because other surveys have consistently found that people report search engines as one of the top ways they find web sites.


The StatMarket survey found that either direct navigation or using bookmarks was the most popular way of reaching web sites, generating 47 percent of traffic. Following links was the
second most popular, generating 46 percent of traffic. Included in the links total were clicks on banner ads.

The statistics are gathered by measuring traffic to 200,000 sites that use WebSideStory's HitBox tracking service. These sites include everything from large businesses, to hobbyists, to porn
sites. The statistics are as measured on Dec. 17, 2000.

(A longer version of this article is available to Search Engine Watch "site subscribers." Learn more about becoming a site subscriber at
http://searchenginewatch.com/about/subscribe.html?source=0101ser-smkt)
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/sereport/current.html