Google search properties accounted for 80.46% of all Canadian searches conducted in the 12 weeks ending Oct. 3, 2009, according to Experian Hitwise:
Key findings:
- Yahoo! search properties, Bing search properties, and Ask search properties received 7.99%, 7.65%, and 3.09%, respectively.
- The remaining 46 search engines in the Experian Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1% of Canadian searches.
- Ask search properties increased 11% from September.
Longer Searches on the Rise
Search queries of five to more than eight words in length increased 1% between August and September 2009:
Key findings:
- Searches of eight or more words increased 3%.
- Shorter search queries, those averaging one to four words long, were flat month to month.
- Searches of two words made up the majority of searches, amounting to 25.73% of all queries.
Search Engines Category Most Visited
Experian Hitwise separates websites into more than 165 industry categories, and the Search Engines category came out on top, capturing 28.18% of all Canadian Internet visits in September 2009:
Key findings:
- The Business and Finance category received the next-highest number of visits, with 15.02%, followed by the Entertainment category with 14.82%.
- The categories that received the largest gain in visits month to month were the Sports-Fantasy category, increasing 157%; the Community/Humanitarian category, with a 150% increase; and the Computers and Internet/Internet Advertising category, increasing 114%.
About the data: Data is based on 12-week rolling periods (ending Oct. 3, 2009, and Aug. 29, 2009) from the Experian Hitwise sample of 100,000 Canadian Internet users.
