Google, Search Behavior and Navigating the Web

How do you search? Search engines serve as the gateway to web pages. This has been true for quite some time now, but I am always fascinated by observing my own search behavior and the search behavior of others. I think it is interesting to watch how someone navigates to a website via search or a web browser. I have overheard amusing conversations about how people use search, or guide a person to a specific destination on the web. This post explores some of my observations relating to the web and this tool we call search.

Google as Navigation

Sometimes I use search to find content without having a predetermined destination (website) in mind. For example, if I search for a recipe like "snickerdoodle cookie recipe" I have no intention to go to a specific domain such as cooks.com or about.com. Instead I simply want to browse a few recipes and choose one that looks good. On the flip side, I very frequently find myself searching as a means of navigating to a specific website. The most obvious example of this, and one that is most true for me, is Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia! It is one of my favorite websites and best of all it is always at the top of Google's search results exactly when I expect it to be. So when I am conducting research type searches with keywords such as "Barack Obama" or "Jimmy Hoffa" or "the Amazon" I expect to see Wikipedia as a result on the first page (usually number one but often in the top 3 or 5 at least). I always scan the page for the Wikipedia result and clicking on it.

Google + Wikipedia = Perfection

Over the years my relationship with the Google search box and Wikipedia has evolved. At first it was simply a matter of always finding Wikipedia on the search engine result page and feeling perfectly satisfied by Wikipedia's content. Eventually my intention became to arrive at Wikipedia through my Google search. For a while I departed from this routine and tried going directly to Wikipedia through the address bar and then conduct my keyword search on Wikipedia's search engine. This order of events was not efficient at all because I can often misspell my search term. Wikipedia is not too savvy when it comes to offering me suggestions for my spelling errors. Google, on the other hand, knows exactly what I am looking for every time, even when I don't spell it correctly. So I have returned to my old ways, I start by searching Google for content I want to find on Wikipedia because I know Google will give me the desired web page (in addition to fixing my spelling error).

EavesDropping

Other people have certainly picked up their own search habits. I expect my search technique is shared by many other web users. Once I overheard a man with a similar search strategy for IMDB (The Internet Movie Database). I overheard a conversation between two people who were trying to figure out which movie used a certain theme song that was playing on the speakers at the gym. They were not able to come to a consensus, but the man did reveal something of his search behavior. He suggested that if you simply did a Google search for the movie title you would get to IMBD because it always "comes up first in the results." Clearly he also skips the step of going to IMDB and then searching for a movie for the same reason I skip that first step. Google will deliver a link to the correct page on the correct site with a single click.

I have heard many other similar conversations. They all have the same starting point. Usually the person can not remember the name of the web site they are trying to refer a person to, but they do remember how they got there...Google! So the conversation often sounds something like this..."Oh! I can't remember the name of the site...but, if you just Google 911 conspiracy theory it will be one of the first website that come up in the results." Everyone is "googling"!

What this reveals beyond search behavior is navigation behavior. Basically Google search is so relevant and so much more accurate and efficient than the search engines on individual websites that Google is a better gateway to a web page than the destination website itself. Web users demand instant results and with Google we get instant results. Other routes only add time, clicks and frustration.

What is the Address Bar Anyway?

I think much of this behavior stems from frustrations with the address bar. I use the address bar all the time, but many web users still have not managed to really wrap their heads around the idea of calling up a web page through the address bar. Have you ever watched your parents try to bring up a URL? This is painful! They slowly type in the URL starting with...h...t...t...p...semicolon...slash...slash...w...w...w... At this point I have already tried to explain that you don't need to type in the http:// or the www, but it never seems to get through. I understand why users search for URLs before typing them in to the address bar. If you make a typo in the address bar you get no helpful suggestions just the wrong website or an error message. But if you make a typo in the search box...you are still just a click away from your final destination. If you search for your URL correctly Google will even skip the result and take you directly to the website. Another point for Google!

Google Chrome

This brings us directly to Chrome, Google's new web browser recently launched in September 2008. Chrome like all browsers has an address bar, but Chrome's address bar is different. Chrome merges the address bar and the search box into one nifty tool where you search directly from the address bar. Google calls this feature "one box for everything." Those guys and gals at Google are always thinking...they know exactly what we searchers are up to and this feature clearly a response to navigational search behavior. For example, if you have the Chrome browser open and start typing something into the address/search bar, search results (web pages) are displayed for you as suggestions in addition to other suggested keyword searches (as seen in the image above). You can then choose to go to a suggested web page or continue with your keyword search. Although I appreciate this feature I find that my appreciation to be more philosophical than functional. I like to play with the Chrome browser to understand how it works and why it suggests what is does, but I don't actually use it to navigate the web. I think many of Chrome's features will be incredibly helpful to many web users out there. Not only do they offer a simplified address bar, they offer a nifty display of all of your most visited websites as thumbnail images when you open the browser. So if you only have a few destinations on the web you never even need to use the address bar or search. (I only wonder how this helps or hurts Google with advertising revenue, in which case it makes no sense to take users away from the traditional search result pages.) I think it will be a while before people begin using the new Chrome browser. FireFox is a great browser but still only 40% of web users are using it. Meanwhile 48% of web users are still using Internet Explorer...what are they thinking? Old habits die hard.

Searching the Future

I believe our search behaviors will continue to be shaped by the various tools we use to conduct searches. At the same time the tools created for us to search with will be shaped by our search behaviors. It will be interesting to see how web browsers, search result pages and applications continue to evolve based on our needs and behaviors. Mobile search is something to watch grow. I am still new to mobile search, but as the proud owner of an iPhone I know it will become more and more integrated into my search routine. I wonder what my mobile search methods will be.

How do you search?
Comments, stories, experiences and thoughts are all appreciated!