San Francisco—Despite concerns about Google Inc.'s data-collection practices, 83% of Internet users said Google is their preferred search engine, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
According to the company's "Search Engine Use 2012" report, Yahoo Inc.'s search engine, powered by Microsoft's Bing search technology, is the second most-preferred search engine, cited by 6% of Internet users. Google shines much brighter in this study of "preferred" search engines, compared with recent studies that tallied actual market share of search queries.
However, 73% of Internet users said they are resistant to search engines using their personal information to provide better targeted search results, and 65% said they don't want to see targeted ads. Pew's survey was based on an online poll of 2,253 U.S. adults in January and February.
