[WEB4LIB] A Few Search Engine Stats, "What People Look At"

[Nancy Sosna Bohm]

This part doesn't seem accurate:
"...Only 7.5 percent of Internet users said they refined their search with
additional keywords in cases where they were unable to achieve satisfactory
results."
Maybe the users were actually asked if they "refined their search with
additional keywords" rather than having their search stratedgies observed?
Granted, I often observe patrons who don't get good results adding keywords
that give worse results, but usually they do try a few variations.

----- Original Message -----
From: "gary" <gprice at gwu.edu>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 1:34 PM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] A Few Search Engine Stats, "What People Look At"


> Hello from Sacramento!
>
> A few web search stats I plan on posting to the ResourceShelf tomorrow.
>
> I don't think these numbers will be a big surprise to most of you but they
might
> be useful for presentations. They also might help with why learning to
limit
> (limiting for many users might be placing a phrase inside quotation marks)
with a
> search engine could be useful.
>
> Although the problems that exist with info quality are also a MAJOR
concern
> (perhaps the biggest concern in the web age) and perfectly illustrated in
Rich's
> recent post, I think these numbers also illustrate other major problems in
the
> age of web search engines.
>
> ----
> You can read the full NUA article with more stats here:
> http://www.nua.com/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905358569&rel=true
>
> Highlights:
> "According to a recent study from iProspect, three-quarters of Internet
users use
> search engines. However, 16 percent of Internet users only look at the
first few
> search results, while 32 percent will read through to the bottom of the
first
> page.
>
> "The study also indicates that 52.1 percent of Internet users choose the
same
> search engine or directory when searching for information, while 35
percent
> alternate among a number of favorite search properties."
>
> "Only 7.5 percent of Internet users said they refined their search with
> additional keywords in cases where they were unable to achieve
satisfactory
> results."
> Source: NUA Internet Surveys, 11/14/02
>
>
> More Here:
>
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/advertising/article/0,,5941_1500821,0
0.html
> or
> http://tinyurl.com/2rur
>
>
> cheers,
> gary
>
>
>
> The Virtual Acquisition Shelf and News Desk (The ResourceShelf)
> http://resourceshelf.freepint.com--
> --
> Gary D. Price, MLIS
> Librarian
> Gary Price Library Research and Internet Consulting
> gary at freepint.com
>