SEO Technology News

How Is Search Engines Perform In 2012

How is Search Engines Perform In 2012

  • 55% of search engine users say that, in their experience, the quality of search results is getting better over time, while just 4% say it has gotten worse
  • 52% of search engine users say search engine results have gotten more relevant and useful over time, while just 7% report that results have gotten less relevant

These findings are a backdrop for the ongoing policy debates about privacy, collection of personal information online, and the enthusiasm for targeted search and targeted advertising among companies. They also arise as Google implements a new privacy policy in which information about users’ online behavior when they are signed into Google’s programs can be collected and combined into a cohesive user profile. This includes material from Google’s search engine, the Google+ social networking site, You Tube video-sharing site, and G mail.


Overall, search users are confident in their abilities

Most search users say they are confident in their own search abilities, and find what they are looking for most of the time.  More than half of search users (56%) say they are very confident in their search abilities, while only 6% say they are not too or not all confident.  And the vast majority of search users report being able to find what they are looking for always (29%) or most of the time (62%).

Positive search experiences are more common than negative experiences

Asked about different experiences they have had using search engines, more users report positive experiences than negative. They said in their use of search engines they had:

  • learned something new or important that really helped them or increased their knowledge (86% of search users have had this experience)
  • found a really obscure fact or piece of information they thought they would not be able to find (50%)
  • gotten conflicting information in search results and not been able to figure out what is correct (41%)
  • gotten so much information in a set of results that you feel overwhelmed (38%)
  • found that critical information is missing from search results (34%)

Google continues to be the most popular search engine, by a wide margin

Google continues to dominate the list of most used search engines.  Asked which search engine they use most often, 83% of search users say Google.  The next most cited search engine is Yahoo, mentioned by just 6% of search users.  When we last asked this question in 2004, the gap between Google and Yahoo was much narrower, with 47% of search users saying Google was their engine of choice and 26% citing Yahoo.

Search engines perform in 2012-Nemage

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