Troy, NY – (Business Wire) – 11/28/2007 – Engineering, technical and industrial professionals increasingly rely on the Internet to do their jobs, according to results of the GlobalSpec Engineering Trends Survey. This sixth annual study surveyed engineers, technical buyers, scientific professionals and other members of the industrial community to determine Internet usage patterns.

Thirty-one percent of respondents indicated that they spend over eight hours per week online for work-related purposes in 2007, compared to 23 percent in 2006. And they are spending this time performing important tasks: 90 percent of respondents have used the Internet to find components and suppliers, and 85 percent go online to obtain product specifications. This audience also has clear preferences for searching online – the majority of respondents use more than one search engine for work-related purposes, with their top three search engines being Google, GlobalSpec and Yahoo!.

Results of the survey also indicate that an online presence drives industrial professionals to take offline action. Eighty-five percent of respondents stated that they have contacted a supplier after visiting a Web site, and 49 percent ordered samples. Additionally, this audience takes action as a result of seeing an online advertisement: 81 percent have visited the advertiser’s Web site and 59 percent have e-mailed the advertiser.

Although engineering, technical and industrial professionals have embraced the Internet for work-related purposes, new media still have not taken hold in the industrial sector. Few respondents indicated spending time on blogs, discussion groups/online forums, networking sites, podcasts/audiocasts, and Wikis. The one exception is Webcasts/Webinars, which have been used by 23 percent of respondents for work-related purposes.

Additional findings from the GlobalSpec Sixth Annual Engineering Trends Survey include:

• 64 percent of respondents use two or more search engines for work-related purposes; The top three search engines used for work are Google, GlobalSpec and Yahoo!
• 70 percent of respondents visit more than five work-related Web sites each week
• Printed buyer’s guides are used by only two percent of respondents

Access the survey results at www.globalspec.com/wp/GS_EngineeringTrends07.

About GlobalSpec, Inc.
GlobalSpec, Inc. is the leading specialized vertical search, information services and e-publishing company serving the engineering, technical and industrial communities. GlobalSpec users benefit from domain-expert search engines, a broad range of proprietary and aggregated Web-based content and over 55 product-centric e-newsletters – helping them search for and locate products and services, learn about suppliers and access comprehensive technical content. SpecSearch®, GlobalSpec’s trademarked search technology, allows users to search more than 179 million specs in 2,200,000 product families from more than 22,000 supplier catalogs. For suppliers, GlobalSpec offers highly filtered sales and marketing opportunities, product promotion and brand advertising platforms, and a wide range of e-media advertising and marketing solutions.

GlobalSpec, SpecSearch, The Engineering Search Engine and The Engineering Web are registered trademarks of GlobalSpec, Inc.

Contact:
GlobalSpec Marketing
E-mail: marketing@globalspec.com

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