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Perennial Searcher

February 25, 2009

Search Behavior

Two new reports shed light on current search behavior. First, HitWise data indicates that search queries are getting longer. They uses to be comprised of 2.5 words. Now, more than 50% of them include 3. (No surprise, by the way, that HitWise reports that Google handled 72% of all Web searches in January 2009.) Second, Search Engine Watch summarizes comScore data that shows that search behavior mimicks the economy.  Keywords and phrases that have spiked are the following: coupons, unemployment benefits, foreclosures, mortgage, and bankruptcy.

posted by Brian at 10:25 am | Comments (0)

February 23, 2009

Meme: Who Will Supplant Google?

Speculation abounds about the so-called “Google Killer”. Who will it be? Better yet, what will it be? An existing player or a new entrant? A tool that mines the Semantic Web or Deep Web? Statistics show that Google still reigns supreme. Yet – - as this New York Times piece indicates – - many fear Google’s dominance, hegemony . . . dare we say monopoly? The reality, though, is that Google can’t index all Web content. Another New York Times article discusses the information that’s beyond the reach of Google’s spider, Googlebot. True, Google has reached a milestone, indexing its trillionth URL  This figure, though, is but a sliver:

“Beyond those trillion pages lies an even vaster Web of hidden data: financial information, shopping catalogs, flight schedules, medical research and all kinds of other material stored in databases that remain largely invisible to search engines.”

posted by Brian at 10:41 am | Comments (0)

February 20, 2009

Pew Quiz

Granted this Pew quiz doesn’t have anything specifically to do with search per se, I couldn’t pass it up. Search (i.e., information retrieval) is part and parcel of our digital lifestyle, is it not? Find out your typology. According to my quiz results, I’m an Omnivore. Omnivores comprise 8% of the American public. Apparently, I embrace technology and connection. It takes between 2-5 minutes to complete this assessment, and it just may be worth your while to find out where you fit. Are you a member of the digerati, or are you nearly “off the grid”?

posted by Brian at 3:50 pm | Comments (0)