There were over 7.8 billion search queries conducted in the United States in May 2008.
Source: Nielson Online, May U.S. Search Share Rankings; June 19, 2008;

An estimated 65 percent of online shoppers conduct product research using search engines.
Source: iCrossing, How America Searches: Online Retail at 2; Sept. 24, 2007

Online advertising expenditures likely will exceed $27 billion in the United States in 2008 and are expected to grow to about $42 billion by 2011.
Source: EMarketer, Search Marking, the Behemoth Online Advertising Format; Feb. 2008;

Approximately $8.6 billion was spent on search advertising in the United States in 2007.
Source: EMarketer, Search Marking, the Behemoth Online Advertising Format; Feb. 2008;

Google accounts for approximately 70 to 75 percent of search advertising revenue (and roughly the same number of search queries).
Source: EMarketer, Search Marking, the Behemoth Online Advertising Format; Feb. 2008;

Google’s market capitalization is as large as Coca-Cola and Boeing combined.
Source: Drake Bennett, Stopping Google, Boston Globe; June 22, 2008;

The FTC deemed Google “the dominant provider” in the search advertising market in December 2007. The FTC concluded that other forms of advertising (online or offline) should not serve as a basis to eliminate concerns about Google’s dominance in search.
Source: Statement of the FTC Concerning Google/DoubleClick at 3, FTC File No. 071-0170; Dec. 20, 2007;

Search advertising revenues reached $8.6 billion in 2007 and are expected to jump to almost $16.6 billion by 2011. That is comparable to both radio and cable advertising, whose revenues each totaled about $20 billion in 2007, but search advertising is growing much faster. Statistics compiled from: EMarketer, Search Marking, the Behemoth Online Advertising Format; Feb. 2008.