The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: How "search" is redefining the Web ? and our lives

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: How "search" is redefining the Web ? and our lives: "Three quarters of U.S. Internet users, or about 120 million people, have used engines, searching an average of 38 times a month. As the technology has taken off, its influence has rippled through other industries.
...
As a business, search brought in $4 billion in sales last year, and will become a bigger cash cow as its power and influence grows. And in the process, the easy reach of so much information will continue to provoke concerns about privacy and security. "

Timely snapshot and historical summary.