When Internet surfers want to go to common Web sites, they often rely on search engines to get them there rather then typing the desired URL directly into the address bar, according to a report issued Wednesday by research firm Niesen//NetRatings.

In its monthly survey of Web users, the Internet media and research firm said "ebay" and "google" led in the most popular search category.

"Five of the top 10 search terms were for sites with search engines themselves, supporting the argument that Web visitors are not likely to be loyal to a single search engine," the Nielsen announcement stated.

The three top search terms have remained steady in recent months with "ebay" the search term recording the most frequent number of requests with 13,871,000 followed closely by "google" with 13,301,000. Yahoo was third with 7,997,000.

Others, in order, were: "mapquest" with 7,431,000, "yahoo.com", 6,528,000; "pogo.com", 4,062,000; "walmart", 3,688,000, "ask jeeves", 3,389,000; "msn", 3,155,000; and "ebay.com", 3,125,000.

Nielsen noted that "weather" was the first topical search term. It ranked 23rd. Other popular search terms were for retail and auction sites.

"There are two types of online searchers that type a Web site's URL into a search engine rather than into the browser's address bar," said Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings, in a statement. "Those inexperienced enough not to appreciate the difference between the two, and those that are so experienced they have become habituated to using the search engine as their portal to the Internet."