By removing barriers and friction, always-on devices increase the incidence and frequency of local search, at home as well as on the go.

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And in healthcare, hospitals are adjusting emergency room staffing levels based on the frequency and proximity of key words in search engines (e.g. flu symptoms).

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Executives have said they will work with search engines to limit the frequency of such visits so readers can't game the system.

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Joyce, of The Bradford Group, and other advertisers interviewed for this article declined to specify the exact conversion rate, but Schock, of Google, puts it this way: The higher up a company is ranked in the search query and the higher the frequency of consumers Googl-ing a certain term, the better the chances of landing a sale.

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As the frequency of tracking has increased, more judges have raised the need for search warrants.

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