DMNews has an interesting analysis:

Searches conducted on AOL were most likely to lead to online consumer purchases in January, according to a new WebSideStory index. This may reflect a difference in the demographics of people visiting various search engines.

WebSideStory’s index compares the median conversion rates of four major search engines at business-to-consumer e-commerce sites. AOL generated the best rate (6.17 percent), followed by MSN (6.03 percent), Yahoo (4.07 percent) and Google (3.83 percent).

“With portals rich in content and services, AOL, MSN and Yahoo may tend to appeal toward a more buyer-friendly demographic,” Ali Behnam, senior digital marketing consultant at WebSideStory, said yesterday. “Google, meanwhile, may appeal to more browsers — those with less of an intent to buy.”

To me, this is yet another sign of the importance of understanding the behavior of the average Internet user. AOL tends to have users that are less tech savvy. This could explain the higher ad click-throughs on ads, and also the higher conversion rates (less likely to shop around or visit price comparison sites).

Now, if you are reading this blog you are very unlikely to have normal online habits. So next time you have a chance, please check how a more technologically-challenged friend uses a computer.

Last time I did this fascinating exercise, I saw a friend clicking through the the top three Google results for a travel keyword, although all of them were very clearly spam websites.

We take for granted that everyone thinks the same way as we do, and that is a dangeous mistake to make. When thinking about what sites/services can be popular online you need to put yourself in the shoes of a novice user.

Go on, get a taste of real life. I promise you will be shocked out of your geek bubble.