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Oct. 23, 2007 at 9:35am Eastern by Greg Sterling
Report: 7 Out Of 10 Americans Experience 'Search Engine Fatigue'
A recent report issued by Autobytel, based on findings from a poll of 1,001 US adults conducted by Kelton Research, examined "The State of Search" and how automobile shoppers interact with search engines in particular. Below I excerpt some of the general search findings from the report. The big takeaway is in the headline above: 7 out of 10 Americans experience what the report describes as “search engine fatigue.”
Here are the top-level findings, which the report asserts are based on a representative sample of US adults:
--72.3 percent of Americans experience “search engine fatigue” (either “always,” “usually,” or “sometimes”) when researching a topic on the Internet.
--65.4 percent of Americans say they’ve spent two or more hours in a single sitting searching for specific information on search engines.
--More than three out of four (75.1 percent) of those who experience search engine fatigue report getting up and physically leaving their computer without the information they were seeking – either “always,” “usually” or “sometimes.”
The report discusses user frustration with clutter and the content of search results:
When asked to name their #1 complaint about the process, 25 percent cited a deluge of results, 24 percent cited a predominance of commercial (paid) listings, 18.8 percent blamed the search engine’s inability to understand their keywords (forcing them to try again), and 18.6 percent were most frustrated by disorganized/random results.
There was also a desire among many users that search engines be able to "read their minds":
Kelton asked survey respondents whether they wished that search engines like Google could, in effect, read their minds, delivering the results they were actually looking for. . . That capability is something that 78 percent of all survey-takers “wished” for, including 86.2 percent of 18-34 year-olds and 85 percent of those under 18.
That sounds like an argument for search personalization. Here's the press release that reflects some of the data and report's primary findings.
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By Greg Sterling
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