SEW has a good summary of how Americans search, from a Harris Interactive study.
What are people searching for? Most people (88%)said they were researching specific topics—specifically, information about hobbies. And women (61%) were more likely to search for health and medical information than men (35%). Surprisingly few people researching specific topics are looking for job or career information (28%).
Other common things people use search for include:
* Getting directions/maps – 75%
* Looking for news – 64%
* Shopping – 51%
* Looking for entertainment web sites – 47%