世論 What Japan Thinks

japan.internet.com, in conjection with JR Tokai Express Research, conducted a survey on the awareness of the Google brand in Japan. They interviewed by means of an internet-based survey 331 people, 70.4% male, all of whom worked in either the public or the private sector. 39.3% were in their twenties, 36.0% in their thirties, 23.9% in their forties, no-one in their fifties, and just 0.9% aged sixty or older. The sample was drawn from all over the country.

I’m not surprised at Blogger’s usage being so low, since I do not believe it has a Japanese interface, and anyway a previous survey has shown a preference for Japan-based blogging services. However, the large number of Google earth users really surprised me! Whether the respondents were confusing it with Google Maps, or if people just used it once or twice to find their house, I do not know.

Q1: Do you know the Google search engine? (Sample size=331)

Heard the name, but don’t know what it is	8.8%
Know what it is, but not used it (to Q2)	9.4%
Sometimes use it (to Q3)	39.9%
Always use it (to Q3)	39.0%
Don’t know it	3.0%

I presume the “Always use it” option means that it is people’s primary search engine, rather than their exclusive choice! Only 3.0% of all internet users not even knowing the name is quite impressive market penetration.

Q2: Which of the following Google sevices do you know? (Sample size=31, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Blogger	5	16.1%
Gmail	3	9.7%
Google Earth	3	9.7%
Picasa	0	0.0%
None of the above	23	74.2%

Q3: Which of the following Google sevices have you used? (Sample size=261, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Google Earth	121	46.4%
Gmail	20	7.7%
Picasa	16	6.1%
Blogger	11	4.2%
None of the above	123	47.1%

Only a mere 7.7% (or 6.0% of the original sample) had used Gmail, which tends to agree with the results of a previously-translated brand awareness survey.