…and with it, the need to understand SEO.

According to the latest figures from the Pew Internet Project, search is the fastest growing online application … and the second most common activity (49%; email 60%) in a typical web user’s day. Rounding out the top three activities is checking the news (39%).

Search is most used by college-educated (66% use in a typical day) and higher income net-izens (62% of $75K+ income users), those with broadband at home (58%), and those under 50 years old (55%).

“The percentage of internet users who use search engines on a typical day has been steadily rising from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of just under one-half (49%).

With this increase, the number of those using a search engine on a typical day is pulling ever closer to the 60% of internet users who use email, arguably the internet’s all-time killer app. Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of internet users who search on a typical day grew 69% from January 2002, when the Pew Internet & American Life Project first tracked this activity, to May 2008, when the current data were collected. During the same six-year time period, the use of email on a typical day rose from 52% to 60%, a growth rate of 15%.”

Read more from Pew.

One place you can begin mastering SEO is this Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization.