BEIJING, Nov. 22 -- Search engines is now second only to email as the No.2 online activity for US Web users, according to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

    Fifty-nine million Americans used search during September, up 55 percent from 38 million in June 2004, the study found. That means 41 percent of Internet users searched for something online on a typical day in September compared with 30 percent a year and a half earlier.

    Email remains the essential online activity, with about 52 percent of American Internet users emailing on a given day, up from 45 percent in June 2004.

    The Pew project also found that those likely to spend more time on search engines tend to be in their 30s and well-off.

    The report added, "Those who use search engines on an average day tend to be heavy Internet users. They are much more likely to have broadband connections than dial-up connections; to log on to the Internet several times a day; and to have spent considerable time online during the day."

    The rise of search has been powered by local information, says Pew. It perhaps marks something of a milestone for Internet usage. As more and more content comes online - recently Google claimed to have trebled its index of 8bn pages, while Yahoo! claimed 19.2bn pages - users can turn to the Internet to find information close to home with a good chance of finding it.

    The report also found that reading the news is now the third most popular Web activity. Enditem

(Agencies)