What we do most online may surprise you.

So, we are being led to believe that we are predominantly going online to watch videos and indulge in social networking, right? Well, not quite. According to the latest Pew Internet Project report in June, our predominant online use is for good old email and search.

Yes, good old email. Not quite as archaic as its dinosaurian predecessor, ‘snail mail’, 92 per cent of adults who go online use email, with 61 per cent using it on an average day. Search accounts for similar figures with 92 per cent of online adults use search engines to find information on the Web, including 59 per cent who do so on any given day.

It’s no wonder Google keeps growing, these numbers putting search and email at the top online activities by US adults, make search engine marketing increasingly important and there lies the key to Google’s staggering revenues.

Mobile operators might be relieved to see these findings because search and email traffic puts far less stress on networks and capacity than streaming video and continual application access, but it may not last.

There is no doubt instant messaging, video calling and communications through social media will continue to grow, but it is heartening that good old email is still so popular. Online marketers are also aware of the figures and are targeting email campaigns to consumers because the percentages of use are higher with higher income levels.

The report shows that adults with household incomes of $75,000 or more are more likely to use email on any given day, at 78 per cent, followed by those with household incomes of $50,000 to $74,999 at 67 per cent; $30,000 to $49,999 at 59 per cent; and less than $30,000 at 47 per cent.

Our penchant for using search engines to find almost anything we are after is supported by the figures as well. Search remains most popular among young adult Internet users ages 18 to 29 with 96 per cent of them using search engines to find information online. Of Internet users age 65 and older, a staggering 87 per cent use search.

Google’s Eric Scmidt was quoted as saying, “PCs will be used for things where you need to do a lot of typing because it’s hard to type on that glass screen. But for everything else you’re going to be using a mobile device… They’re inherently better. They’re more personal. With your permission, they know who you are. They can make suggestions for you.”

Yes, indeed, and the more we use mobile devices the more we will use search, and the more revenue and information Google will gather. Perhaps the last part should have read ‘the more Google knows about you.” In view of the Pew report and Google’s continuing success and dominance, one can only hope that enterprising CSPs can work out some way of capitalizing on the service they provide for Google and online marketers to continue making money.