Studies

Studies

by Mike Masnick




Searchers Think They're Smart, But They're Not

from the we're-all-better-than-average dept

Just like drivers who will all report themselves as being better than average, it appears that most users of search engines consider themselves fairly handy with a keyword or two. Unfortunately, many really have absolutely no clue about search results page muck that they wade into. Very few realize, for example, how "paid search" or "paid inclusion" programs work -- and they even say they wouldn't use a search engine that isn't clear about those policies. However, many are still searching on the engines that do exactly that. Also, it appears that some people believe they're handy with search engines because they get results from them. They don't necessarily look to see if they're the right results, but because a search engine gives them plenty of results, they assume they did something right, and therefore, must have excellent search engine skills.

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