Brits search smarter than Yanks

The study, commissioned by online marketing specialist Agence Virtuelle (based in Switzerland) has revealed that British consumers are most responsive to natural search engine results and only a few regularly click on sponsored links.

Google remains a clear favourite among 70% of UK consumers and many are turning to price comparison web sites rather than use alternative, newer search engines.

According to the study, almost two thirds of British consumers said they prefer natural search engine results while only 7% admitted responding most to sponsored CPC campaigns.

Meanwhile, only one in twenty UK respondents frequently click on sponsored links compared to one in five who never click on them.

The UK study surveyed a more than 1,150 consumers and found that almost 72% feel Google delivers the most relevant results. AskJeeves was second with 14% of the vote while only 8% felt Yahoo! delivers the most relevant results.

MSN search was favoured by just 3% of respondents.

The Agence Virtuelle research also revealed a high awareness of sponsored links and search engine marketing among British consumers with almost 99% of 16-24 year olds aware of the difference between sponsored links and organic results.

Meanwhile, 89% of those aged 55 and over aware of the difference - much higher than the 38% of Americans who are aware of the difference, according to US research issued last month.

The UK research revealed that instead of turning to search engines other than Google to search for products online, consumers are increasingly using price comparison websites with 71% admitting they have used one before.

In this area Kelkoo was the clear favourite with 90% of respondents having used the web site, followed by 49% who have used PriceRunner.

Despite being by far the most popular search engine, only 10% of respondents have used Google's price comparison service Froogle. The research found that both men and women are equally likely to use price comparison sites to find a bargain.

Over one in four consumers respond most to opt-in email marketing, though this was a more popular medium among females where almost a third preferred email compared with one fifth of men.

The research also revealed general consumer apathy to traditional online display advertising with just 2% responding to banner adverts and less than one per cent responding to highly intrusive pop-up advertising.