Search engine news – User research

There has been limited research conducted on search engine usage over recent
years, but US search marketing firm I-Prospect has just published a detailed
survey looking at the search behaviour of a sample of 1,649 respondents from
that country. The findings make interesting reading:

• 52% used search engines at least once a day
• 82% will try a new search if they do not find what they are looking for
  within 3 pages -This highlights the importance of keeping you search term
  rankings in at least the top 30.

• 72% of Google users found natural search results to be more relevant to
  their queries than sponsored listings whereas 71% of MSN Search users found
  paid listings to be more relevant than natural search results to their query –
  This could well be due to MSN blurring the difference between sponsored and
  natural results and may also indicate that Google attracts a more experienced
  or sceptical breed of user! It will also be dependent on the quality of
  results being provided within the natural listings.

The full survey in PDF format is available from href="http://www.iprospect.com/premiumPDFs/iProspectSurveyComplete.pdf">IProspect.