It looks like it's just you and me, Dave.

You've confirmed one thing for me - search is a critical part of the buying process.

But consider this for a moment: How often did wherever you end up making the purchase turn up on page one of your organic search results?

For me the answer is... Never. Not once yet!
A couple of times the right site has come up with the Adsense ads that come up with the SERP, but more generally following one of the top five or so results has led to me to the site where I've made the purchase. Via a link on that page or a referral, but it has never happened directly from an organic SERP.

I know this might be a bit of a brain scratch, but have you had the same experience?