Searching the web: The public and their queries

TLDR

The study analyzes over one million Excite search queries to understand how the public searches the web. We examined these queries and compared the results to two other large Web query studies. Most users employ few terms, rarely modify queries or use advanced features, and view few pages, while a small set of terms dominate and many are unique, with recreation and entertainment queries ranking highest, revealing public search practices.

Abstract

In studying actual Web searching by the public at large, we analyzed over one million Web queries by users of the Excite search engine. We found that most people use few search terms, few modified queries, view few Web pages, and rarely use advanced search features. A small number of search terms are used with high frequency, and a great many terms are unique; the language of Web queries is distinctive. Queries about recreation and entertainment rank highest. Findings are compared to data from two other large studies of Web queries. This study provides an insight into the public practices and choices in Web searching.