Search queries consisting of four to six words have become more popular, while one-, two- or three-word searches declined in popularity, according to a study from Hitwise.
Hitwise observed a direct correlation among longer the search terms and their use. Six-word searches made up 4.38% of all searches in February 2008. By February 2009 this had climbed to 4.71%. Five-word searches jumped from 8.29% to 8.72%, and four-word lookups moved from 14.53% of all searches to 14.98%.
Three-word searches slipped slightly, from 21.84% to 21.68%, while two-word searches experienced the biggest drop on a percentage basis, from 24.73% to 23.47%. One-word lookups dropped from 21.04% to 20.48%.
Google continued to hold the lion
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