InternetWeek.com has an interesting article this week that details the findings of a telephone survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and comScore Networks. The survey sampled nearly 1,400 Internet users to find out what types of activities they used the Internet for. The study suggests that nearly 64 million Americans go online each day, and that search engine use is second only to e-mail when it comes to online activities.

The survey also noted that breaking news was likely to cause a spike in the use of online news sources, eclipsing search engines as the second most popular activity. In a trend that either showcases improved search technology, or the increasing savvyness of Internet users, over 90% of those surveyed claimed that they could nearly always find what they were looking for when using a search engine. 44% of users stated that they use search engines to locate information that they deem “critical.”

Loyalty to search engines is strong, with 44% of users claiming that they use a single engine exclusively. Google ranked as the most popular engine, being named by 47% of users as their favorite search site. Yahoo! ranked a distant second with 26% of users naming it their engine of choice.

Further survey results and details can be found at InternetWeek.com: Search Is Second Most Popular Online Activity