p2pnet.net News:- Netsters are, “extremely positive about search engines and the experiences they have when searching the internet”. But they’re generally unsophisticated about why and how they use search engines, says a Pew Internet & American Life Project report.

They’re also apparently “strikingly unaware” of how search engines operate and how they present their results.

[How do they do that? Ed ; ]

Nor, apparently, are users aware of financial “incentives” that affect how search engines perform and how they present their search results, although they trust their favorite search engines.

Anyway, Net users tend to settle quickly on a single search engine and then stick with it, “rather than switching as search technology evolves or comparing results from different search systems,” says Pew, going on:

“ Some 44% of searchers regularly use just one engine, and another 48% use just two or three. Nearly half of searchers use a search engines no more than a few times a week, and two-thirds say they could walk away from search engines without upsetting their lives very much.”

Only 38% of users are aware of the distinction between paid or “sponsored” results and unpaid results.

And only one in six say they can always tell which results are paid or sponsored and which are not.

Can you tell? Answer honestly, now …..

“This finding is ironic, since nearly half of all users say they would stop using search engines if they thought engines were not being clear about how they presented paid results,” adds Pew.

Something you think we should know about? tips[at]p2pnet.net

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See:-
unsophisticated - Search Engine Users: Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting – but they are also unaware and naïve, Pew, January 24, 2005

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