Stats > Stats: Search Behavior
How do people search for information on the web? Below are articles covering the topic. But first, here are some ways to discover popular topics that people are searching for, at various search engines:
- AOL Hot Searches: News
from AOL that looks at trends in search there.
- Ask IQ:
Weekly rundown on top searches at Ask.com.
- Dogpile
SearchSpy: See a filtered or unfiltered sample of real-time searches
from this popular meta search engine.
Metaspy is a
similar service from Dogpile's sister meta search site Metacrawler.
- Google Trends: See how
search terms have trended on Google going back through 2004. You can also
narrow by country and subregions of a country. See also
Google Meme: Hot
Trends Added To Google Trends, which explains more about the day-to-day
reporting you can get from Google Trends.
- Hitwise US Data Center:
Covers top searches by industry category each month. Data centers for other
countries that Hitwise covers are also offered.
- Lycos 50: This long-standing
service covers the top searches at Lycos each week.
- Yahoo Buzz: Another
long-standing service that covers what's hot based on searches at Yahoo.
- AOL Databases: In August 2006, AOL released what was meant to be an anonymous database of how 658,000 individuals searched from March through May 2006. Unfortunately, the ability to see what even an "anonymous" person searched for over a long period of time made it possible to guess at the identities of a few individuals, as illustrated in this New York Times article on the situation. AOL pulled the information, but it is maintained in a variety of mirror sites, such as here. There are also a several tools designed to help those wishing to mine the data, such as here, here and via a list here.
For articles about how to use these tools or perform search term research and see specifically the keywords people are searching for, see the Search Marketing: Search Term Research category of Search Engine Land.
May. 7, 2008 at 10:17am by Danny Sullivan
From My Inbox: Some Search Tools To Checkout
After Yahoo-Microsoft madness, a bit of a lull. So I'm cleaning out my inbox and wanted to mention a few items that might be of interest. Below, a way to quickly search blogs & social media sites all at once, a new video search tool, a study into automatic search...
See Related Stories In: Google: SEO, Google: Webmaster Central, SEM Tools, Search Engines: Other Search Engines, Search Engines: Social Search Engines, Search Engines: Video Search Engines, Search Engines: Word Of Mouth & Buzz Search Engines, Search Resources, Stats: Search Behavior
Apr. 28, 2008 at 9:48am by Danny Sullivan
WWW2008: Search Research Paper Roundup
A variety of interesting research papers on search have come out of WWW2008, the 17th International World Wide Web Conference. Some I've blogged already. Below is a rundown on those and some other papers that may be of interest. For the attention-challenged, I've also included my now patented "Twitter"...
See Related Stories In: Search Resources, Stats: Search Behavior
Apr. 28, 2008 at 6:46am by Danny Sullivan
Microsoft Paper: Improving Search Results By Mining Web Surfing Activity
A new research paper from Microsoft looks at how surfing behavior -- as logged by a search toolbar -- can be used to improve search results....
See Related Stories In: Google: Toolbar, Google: Web History & Search History, Microsoft: Live Search, Stats: Relevancy, Stats: Search Behavior
Apr. 28, 2008 at 6:14am by Danny Sullivan
Yahoo Paper: Finding The Local "Center" Of Search Queries
A new research paper from Yahoo and Cornell University -- with search legend Jon Kleinberg as one of the coauthors -- provides a fascinating look at how a search query such as "red sox" or "hurricane deal" can be centered around a physical location -- including one that changes...
See Related Stories In: Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines, Stats: Search Behavior, Yahoo: Maps & Local
Apr. 15, 2008 at 2:59pm by Greg Sterling
iCrossing: Democrat Obama Winning In Overall Search Volume, Republican John McCain Outspending Rivals On Paid Search
The finding that Republican presidential candidate and presumptive nominee John McCain is outspending (by 2x) Democrats Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton on issues as well as buying his opponents' "brand terms" is one of the findings of a fascinating new iCrossing report, "How America Searches: Election ‘08 Update."...
See Related Stories In: Search & Society: General, Stats: Search Behavior
Apr. 10, 2008 at 10:37am by Barry Schwartz
Study: 80-Percent Of Searches Are Informational, 20% Are Navigational Or Transactional
A Penn State research study showed that about 80-percent of searches are informational in nature, whereas 10-percent are navigational and another 10-percent are transactional. The researchers reviewed over 1.5 million queries from hundreds of thousands of search engines users to prove the "80/20 rule that 80 percent of the cases...
See Related Stories In: Stats: Search Behavior
Apr. 7, 2008 at 7:09am by Greg Sterling
iProspect: Blended Search Resulting In More Clicks On News, Images, And Video
Since the advent of "blended" or "universal search" last year across the major engines, there's been ongoing discussion and speculation about its impact on user behavior and search marketing. Gord Hotchkiss last year wrote extensively about how blended search (on Google) has in fact shifted the user focus from the...
See Related Stories In: Google: Universal Search, Microsoft: Live Search, Microsoft: Live Search SEO, SEO: General, SEO: Video Search, Search Marketing: Branding, Search Marketing: General, Stats: Search Behavior, Yahoo: SEO, Yahoo: User Interface
Mar. 31, 2008 at 6:04am by Greg Sterling
Local Store And Inventory Data Poised To Transform "Online Shopping"
The neglected part of the local story is about products. Often local search is discussed exclusively in terms of finding service businesses or small businesses in one's own area. But an equally important, if less obvious, part of the "local search" phenomenon is shopping in the more traditional sense....
See Related Stories In: Locals Only, Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing, Stats: Search Behavior
Feb. 14, 2008 at 6:55am by Greg Sterling
Pew: Americans Increasingly Shop Online But Still Fear Identity Theft
For the readers of Search Engine Land it might come as a surprise that, while most US adults find online shopping "convenient," they still don't like sending personal or credit card information over the internet. Based on a consumer telephone survey, among 2,400 adults (9/07), the Pew Internet Project found...
See Related Stories In: Search Engines: Shopping Search Engines, Stats: Search Behavior
Jan. 21, 2008 at 2:09pm by Greg Sterling
Comparing Mobile Search Surveys: Early Adopters Vs. Mainstream Users
I conducted a very informal, online Search Engine Land reader survey several weeks ago on a range of high-level topics pertaining to mobile search. The ultimate number of responses from SEL readers was a small sample of 77. Mike Blumethal, a contributor to SEL who writes the Understanding Google Maps...
See Related Stories In: Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines, Stats: General, Stats: Search Behavior
Jan. 18, 2008 at 10:13am by Greg Sterling
Center For The Digital Future: Perceptions Of Search Reliability And Accuracy Declining
The University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication's Center for the Digital Future is engaged in an ambitious longitudinal study on consumer behavior and media usage. Each year the center surveys the same 2,000 US adults to track attitudes toward media as well as any changes in actual media...
See Related Stories In: Search & Society: General, Stats: Relevancy, Stats: Search Behavior
Jan. 18, 2008 at 7:14am by Gord Hotchkiss
Scanning Barriers On The Search Results Page
A few columns ago I talked about user behavior on the results page and compared it to a shopping mall. In recent eye tracking studies, we’ve seen that several factors can create barriers or “walls” in this mall that can keep traffic from ever finding your listing....
See Related Stories In: Just Behave, Search Engines: Wikipedia, Stats: Search Behavior
Jan. 11, 2008 at 8:07am by Barry Schwartz
Google Launches Google Checkout Trends
The Google Checkout blog announced that they have launched Google Checkout Trends. Google Checkout Trends is a flavor of Google Trends, but limits the data to that collected from Google Checkout merchants. It basically shows you what people are buying and selling online via Google Checkout. You can plug in...
See Related Stories In: Google: Checkout, Search Marketing: Search Term Research, Stats: Search Behavior
Dec. 30, 2007 at 4:11pm by Vanessa Fox
Pew/Internet Study Finds Most Americans Get Their Answers From The Internet
A PEW/Internet and American Life study out today finds that the place Americans turn to most for answers is the internet. The study, which surveyed 2,796 Americans, found that 76% have internet access and that 58% turn to the internet when they have questions about things like health, school, careers,...
See Related Stories In: Google: Health, Search & Society: General, Search Engines: Government Search Engines, Search Engines: Health & Medical Search Engines, Stats: General, Stats: Search Behavior
Dec. 14, 2007 at 7:07am by Michael Ferguson
Should All These Searches Be Forgotten?
The big search engines released end-of-the-year lists that intrigue and entertain. They can also remind us of the fundamentals of search user behavior. Each year when we look back at top searches, we get to see what searchers are up to and measure the strides in human development over...
See Related Stories In: Just Behave, Stats: Search Behavior
Dec. 11, 2007 at 7:55am by Greg Sterling
SEL Mobile User Survey: 47 Percent Access Mobile Internet "More Than Once A Week"
Several weeks ago, I asked readers to take a quick mobile user survey to get a snapshot of mobile search usage among Search Engine Land readers. It was a brief survey that sought only high-level information. We had 75 people respond to the survey, which I've presented in its...
See Related Stories In: Locals Only, Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines, Stats: General, Stats: Search Behavior
Dec. 4, 2007 at 9:02am by Barry Schwartz
Jennifer Lopez Tops Ask.com's Pregnant Stars Of 2007 List
Ask.com is next to release their top ten search list for 2007. Ask.com actually has a category for "Top Celebrity Searches of Pregnant Stars in 2007," where Jennifer Lopez is the most searched for pregnant star in 2007 at Ask.com. Below are the remaining categories for the lists:...
See Related Stories In: Ask: General, Stats: Popularity, Stats: Search Behavior
Dec. 4, 2007 at 8:14am by Greg Sterling
"iPhone" Fastest Growing Query On Google In 2007
TechCrunch was watching NBC's Today show yesterday, where Google User Experience VP Marissa Mayer revealed the "fastest growing" search queries from 2007. Below is the list, as well as news about a webcast Google's having on top terms of the year....
See Related Stories In: Google: Google Trends, Stats: Search Behavior
Dec. 3, 2007 at 9:44am by Barry Schwartz
Saddam Hussein, Britney Spears, Harry Potter, & Recycling In Yahoo 2007 Top Trends
What do Saddam Hussein, Britney Spears, Harry Potter, and recycling all have to do with each other? They all made the Top Trends in Yahoo Search in 2007 list. The top news story search in 2007 was Saddam Hussein; the top environmental search was recycling, the top troubled stars search...
See Related Stories In: Stats: Popularity, Stats: Search Behavior, Yahoo: Search
Nov. 9, 2007 at 10:18am by Greg Sterling
Power Searchers Driving Most Of The Query Volume At Google, Yahoo, MSN
This Compete blog post argues that most of the search query volume at the major search engines is driven by a relatively small number of search engine users: power searchers. According to Compete, "[T]he top 1% of searchers performs a full 13% of all searches in a given month." Breaking...
See Related Stories In: Stats: Compete, Stats: Popularity, Stats: Search Behavior
Nov. 1, 2007 at 9:01am by Shari Thurow
Understanding Search Usability
The term "search usability" is widely misunderstood throughout a variety of industries: Web design/development, search engine marketing (SEM), online advertising, information sciences, human-computer interface (HCI), and usability industries. Even the term "usability" is misunderstood by search professionals. Every time I hear an SEO professional claim that his or her...
