People are using Google instead of portals and one stop shops Рwe know that.  Search is the gateway to content.  Even Rupert Murdoch this week said:
Nobody is making money with free content on the web, except search.
Interesting that search queries with 8+ words continue to rise.
Why?  Quite possibly because:
1. ¬†People aren’t finding what they want via immediate searches. so keep adding words until they find what they want. ¬†Finding needles in haystacks take some effort.
2. ¬†People aren’t very good at searching effectively, so write things like: find me a hotel near the centre of London (that’s nine words by the way)
3. ¬†People ask a lot of questions when they search. ¬†For example, right now it’s Good Friday – as per Google Trends, the eighth biggest search right now is: is the stock market open today (six words), while the 16th most popular search right now is:¬†are banks open on good friday (again, six words). ¬†These are the sort of searches that are on the increase.
Bottom line Рplain English searches are becoming more common.  There are so many opportunities for firms to incorporate these sort of questions into their online content, in the form of Q&As or other text.  But instead, far too many write website content in the most boring corporate speak ever.