An online survey of approximately 1,100 people in the UK commissioned by bigmouthmedia found that 61% of respondents believed that Google would still be the leading search engine in five years. When asked “Do you want Google to be the leading search engine in five years time?” the response was somewhat different, with a smaller majority (53%) saying yes.

“Do you think Google will be the leading search engine in five years time?”

“Do you want Google to be the leading search engine in five years time?”

A comparable, earlier survey conducted by bigmouthmedia found that some in the UK believed Google was becoming “too commercial.”

The survey authors draw the conclusion that the UK public perception of Google has been largely unaffected by controversies that get lots of coverage among search industry insiders.

Another way to view these data is that 46% of the UK audience (second question) is, to varying degrees, open to alternatives to Google.

Related Topics: Google: Critics | Google: Outside US | Stats: Popularity

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling