[Jim72]

I don't know when it began, but I stopped using the address bar quite some time ago. I found it easier to type in the url into Google. If I make a typo, it offers a correction, and I don't accidentally end up whitehouse.com, if you know what I mean.

That said, I don't think people are searching for "search engines" on Google. I think people are like me in that they use Google as an address bar.

[samdk]

If you're using most modern web browsers, typing something into the address bar is almost equivalent to typing it into Google. Which, as another comment indicates, is probably where a lot of these hits are coming from.

[vaksel]

but they do: 2,240,000 to be exact