Google Docs has yet to take a bite out of Microsoft Office's slice of the productivity pie, according to new data from Clickstream Technologies. The market research firm surveyed its standing panel of 2,400 US Internet users and found that, not only was Google Docs usage relatively low compared to other suites, those who used Google Docs continued to use Office alongside it. Google obviously has a long way to go if it wants to compete with Microsoft, but it still has a chance at growing its productivity market share.

Between May and November of this year, only one percent of Clickstream's panel used Google Docs, making it the second most popular free productivity suite after OpenOffice.org (which was used by five percent of the panel). Microsoft Office managed to trounce both, however, with more than 50 percent of the panel making use of it exclusively.

Additionally, Google Docs users did less when using the web-based suite than people who used OpenOffice.org or Office apps. Users only performed an average of 40 actions per session, whereas they performed 548 in OpenOffice and 1,797 in Microsoft Word. Google Docs users didn't appear to make use of the suite's offline capabilities either, and none of them made use of Gmail's "Open as a Google Document" feature to open an attachment.

Finally, 68 percent of the Google Docs group still reported having used Word at least once during the six-month period. Comparatively, only 26 percent of OpenOffice.org users made use of Microsoft's apps. This tidbit of data is particularly telling, as it shows that most users still don't see Google's offerings as a standalone option even if they prefer it. (Of course, I type this as I have a Google Docs tab open in my browser and with no other productivity suite installed on my machine. Hey, that fraction of a percent has to come from somewhere.)

"Although Google Docs and Spreadsheets has been touted as a potential competitor to the Microsoft Office Suite, OpenOffice is currently the more likely app to take that position, possibly indicating the value of offline and local processing enabled by installed applications," says Clickstream. The firm's data seems to support a report from NPD Group published last year, which said that online productivity suites barely register on the general public's radar.

At the same time, Google's target audience trends more toward educational institutions and businesses, and the company's list of customers has been steadily growing with names like Procter & Gamble, General Electric Corporation, and Prudential. Consumer adoption could increase as more users experience the suite in a business setting, but Google clearly has a long way to go before unseating Microsoft as king in the productivity space.