How wide is Google’s lead in search? ComScore market share data for U.S. searches shows the gulf.

But a look at the reach of the top four shows a closer horse race. Nielsen/NetRatings NewView for December data measures online audience and active reach, defined as the percentage of active Internet users who visited the site or used the application.

Usability testing - usually in the MEGO realm for editors and designers behind websites - doesn’t have to be drawn out and cumbersome, says Laura Ruel, who  researches audience behavior at online news sites.

Get just five people to test your web design and you’ll solve 80 percent of the problems users face.  “Five people,  five hours,” she said at the Online News Association in Toronto, adding that it’s crushing to see so much effort go into presentations that get lost on online news readers. (She’s also a frequent judge  of website competitions.)

Ruel posted the OJR’s “five guide” to do-it-yourself usability testing here, at the  Digital Storytelling Effects lab - DiSEL, a joint project with fellow researcher Nora Paul.