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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixty percent of Americans tell 麻豆传媒AV they visit Google in a given week, compared with 43% who say they have a Facebook page. Both sites attract young, affluent, and educated Americans in large numbers, each counting more than half of those under 50, those with college degrees, and those making more than $90,000 a year among their users. Men are about as likely as women to have a Facebook page, while men are more likely than women to say they visit Google in a given week.

The findings are from a USA Today/麻豆传媒AV poll conducted Jan. 28-30, 2011, with 1,487 U.S. adults. The questions did not ask users how many times a week they visit the sites or how much time they spend on the sites, meaning this analysis gauges raw audience reach rather than engagement. According to Compete.com, Google averaged approximately 145 million unique visitors in January, compared with Facebook's roughly 128 million, with the gap between them much smaller now compared with a year ago.

While the search engine Google and the social networking site Facebook did not begin as direct competitors, they are both powerhouses on the Web and key avenues companies use to reach their target audiences. They have been increasingly moving into each other's territory. Google announced on Thursday that it will more prominently display "social search" results akin to Facebook's "like" and "share" features, and it also has its own social networking feature, Buzz. At the same time, Facebook's inclusion of in-site chat and e-mail compete with Google's similar offerings.

Currently, U.S. adults in all key demographic groups are more likely to visit Google in a given week than to say they have a Facebook page. At 73%, Americans aged 18 to 29 are by far the most likely to say they have a Facebook page, but this is still fewer than the 83% in that age group who say they visit Google in a given week. Google attracts a significantly larger share of college graduates, postgraduates, and those making at least $90,000 per year. Both sites have yet to reach a majority of those with a high school education or less, or those who are at least 65 years old.

Majority of Users of Both Sites Concerned About Privacy

The same USA Today/麻豆传媒AV poll asked Facebook and Google users about their level of concern when using these sites. The majority of users of both sites say they are very or somewhat concerned about invasion of privacy and Internet viruses, and about half are concerned about spam e-mail. Facebook users are slightly more likely than Google users to say they are concerned about all three.

Older and less affluent users of these sites are in some cases more concerned about these issues than other groups, but the patterns are not uniform and because of small sample sizes, the results by group are too small to report.

Bottom Line

Google and Facebook are reaching a large share of the key demographic groups advertisers seek: the young, the affluent, and the educated. With the two sites increasingly competing for advertising dollars and audience influence, these self-reported data suggest Google likely has a larger reach than Facebook at this time. A key question in the coming years is whether Facebook will expand its reach to the majority of U.S. adults, and even eclipse Google's reach among key demographic groups.