David Knowles - Weblogs

David Knowles
For most of us, online search begins and ends with Google. The UK represents the organisation's second biggest market, providing 79% of our searches.

Google's ad revenue is huge, as many advertisers have only the budget for one search engine. Is there more to search than Google? Apparently there is; dig deeper and the web is rife with increasingly sophisticated search options.

Many of us turn to price comparison sites like Shopping.com, Kelkoo or Pricerunner before making a purchase, allowing a one stop features and price comparison.

Only clothing until now has been resistant to this trend, where much 'e-tail' growth is focussed. In the U.S., Like.com is set to change all that: a search for 'pants and slacks' reveals dozens from different styles, fits and manufacturers plus the ability to shop by merchant.

Utilities are also being fought over in online searches. Uswitch and Confused.com battle it out for financial service provision and phone bills, with Moneysupermarket adding travel into the mix.

But search isn't all about buying. The internet is no longer just an information medium, it entertains us. Online video sites like YouTube are booming, and competition is fierce, with the likes of Heavy.com and Blinkx offering increasingly broader ranges of content. AOL's Truveo and Google Video have also entered the fray.

With its unlimited search potential, consumption on the web is based on interest, and particular fields can attach very specific meanings to given words. Where this is the case, general searches are of little use, so specialist search engines are sprouting up across the web.

For instance, we often seek second opinion on medical conditions online; Medicate.com and omnimedicalsearch.com can offer information on virtually any condition for consumers and doctors alike!

While all these new search engines are both profitable and useful for more detailed and specific interrogation, Google still remains top of the tree as our default online search medium in trawling the web for more 'catch-all' research; in this way it is as useful to businesses as it is the consumer.

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