How Are Search Engines Used on the Internet?

By Houssem Assadi, Valérie Beaudouin
English

Search engines, used in one in every five Internet sessions, play an important part in Internauts' activities. In this article we present the findings of a study of uses of search engines by a group of 1,140 French Internauts on the NetValue panel, during the year 2000. This study shows clearly differentiated use profiles for search engines, with variations in accessible and sought-after content. The analysis of keywords attests to diverse centres of interest, and to the fact that while some users want "products" directly consumable on the network, others use it as a resource for off-line activities. We also see that the acquisition of search skills is related more to the use of Boolean operators than to that of additional words narrowing down the search.

Keywords

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