Perfect Match? Not by a Long Shot: Outsell Finds 36 Percent of Professionals’ Internet Searches Fall Short

Burlingame, CA and London, UK—June 15, 2009—Despite the abundance of business and academic information on the Internet—from texts to Tweets—-professionals expecting to find what they need come up short an unprecedented 36% of the time, according to Outsell’s latest end user research.

“Time spent pulling up information is dropping, but zeroing in on the highest quality content for decision making is getting more difficult,” said Roger Strouse, Vice President and Lead Analyst, Outsell. “Organizations are likely to depend more on information managers to purchase and centralize this quality information, although these individuals face reduced budgets.”

Outsell surveyed 5,660 information users from the corporate, education, government, and healthcare sectors in the US and UK about their information spending—their needs, preferences and habits; favored types and formats; and time spent on information tasks. For the first time, Outsell looked at use of handhelds and social networking sites. Among results:

- Fifty seven percent start searches on the Internet (down from 79% in 2001), while 25% begin with an intranet (up from 5%).

- More than 50% use social networks. Eighty-seven percent of those using LinkedIn do so for “professional” or “professional and personal” purposes, followed by Ning (47%), Twitter (39%), Bebo (26%), and Facebook (18%).

- Knowledge workers’ individual and departmental spending on information is declining, and more senior professionals are making the purchases—both reflecting the economic downturn.

Outsell’s “End User Update: 2009 Overview” also offers essential actions for publishers and information providers and is available at: http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/833?refid=pr833 .

A report for information managers is also available: http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/836?refid=pr836 .

This launches a series on spending by individual users, such as sales and marketing and legal professionals, as well as doctors and nurses. Reports are already available on IT professionals: http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/840?refid=pr840 and
scientists and engineers: http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/838?refid=pr838 .

ABOUT OUTSELL, INC.:
Outsell is the only research and advisory firm focused on advancing the publishing, information, and education industries. Our international team provides independent, fact-based analysis and actionable advice about competitors, markets, operational benchmarks, and best practices, so our clients thrive and grow in today's fast-changing digital and global environment. Outsell’s headquarters are in Burlingame, CA, US and London, UK. Visit us at www.outsellinc.com. Journalists should contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com.