Long Tails and Short Queries - An Interview with Amanda Spink, Boxes and Arrows (Oct 17) -- Amanda Spink did some early research into searcher behaviour using data from the Excite search engine. Ten years ago people used very few terms, did not vary the query, and looked at just the first 10 to 20 results. Spink says that this has not changed much.
"We are seeing a growth in more complex search behaviors. More people are searching for information using more than one search. This might mean repeat searches of the same query over time or modifying the queries in successive searches over time. Many people are multitasking or searching for information on more than one topic during a search session. People’s information needs are often quite complex in their home and work environments."
She feels that it would be better if search engines had larger input areas so that searchers would feel they have more room to use more terms. People do best with terms if they have had a chance to talk with another person first.
"Stimulating users to talk with someone or thing (agent) about their information problem helps generate terms and look at the results for additional terms."