I had a debate with Nico Brookes at Atlas Search last year whom we work with quite closely, where we were deliberating what might be the percentage of users who used search engines as straight forward navigation. IE. Instead of bookmarking or typing in a URL what % would just remember the route through a search engine and type in a keyphrase or partial URL to pull up the relevant listing? We both thought it would be quite high, but there weren't many stats around at the time on this subject.

Well a report from Neilson Netratings highlights just how frequently it is, by showing that top search terms are often company or website names. This really emphasises the importance IP management, protecting trademarks and preventing competitors from bidsquatting your company name. Inversely it shows the importance of covering your own trademark terms and address permutations in search listings.

   Table 1: Top 10 Search Terms for November 2005
   --------------------------------------
   Search Term    Number of Requests (000)
   --------------------------------------
   1. "ebay"                       13,871
   --------------------------------------
   2. "google"                     13,301
   --------------------------------------
   3. "yahoo"                       7,997
   --------------------------------------
   4. "mapquest"                    7,431
   --------------------------------------
   5. "yahoo.com"                   6,528
   --------------------------------------
   6. "pogo.com"                    4,062
   --------------------------------------
   7. "walmart"                     3,688
   --------------------------------------
   8. "ask jeeves"                  3,389
   --------------------------------------
   9. "msn"                         3,166
   --------------------------------------
   10. "ebay.com"                   3,125
   --------------------------------------
   Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, January 2006

"There are two types of online searchers that type a Web site's URL into a search engine rather than into the browser's address bar: Those inexperienced enough not to appreciate the difference between the two, and those that are so experienced they have become habituated to using the search engine as their portal to the Internet," said Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Whether this behavior is driven by ignorance or savvy, the end result is the same: The search engine is the focal point of the online experience for Internet users across the spectrum."

http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/