When it comes to searching for information on the internet men are much less easily distracted, a survey has claimed.

According to the UK poll conducted by Yahoo! over half of men can find what they are looking for online in less than a minute, while 18 per cent of women spend more than 10 minutes searching.

The survey also claimed that less than a quarter of men are diverted from their original search target, while 84 per cent of women get distracted while searching.

The claims have been backed up by the Usability Company, a UK-based business usability consultancy. It said it supports Yahoo!'s findings and added that, although the research does not specify context of use, women are far more likely to stray in an online search.

Catriona Campbell, chairman of the Usability Company, said in a statement: "The left-hand side of the brain is for 'analytical' functions and the right-hand side of the brain is for 'artistic' functions.

"Females favour the right-hand side and males the left, thus females are more likely to read more content and stray off topic, whereas males may stick to the task at hand without reading around the topic."