The search engines are always competing with each other to take the best of market share. When it comes to market share, the search engine that is the most accurate and most effective gets the better of the market.
Search engines revolve around user trends and these trends than force the search engines to make changes, which subsequently affects different participants in online marketing processes, whether it be a social media marketing firm, a PPC marketer, or a website developer.
The lines below give a detail of several surveys conducted pertaining to personalized search and different online marketing functions.
1. Authenticity of Search Results:
According to surveys:
- 91% of the users say that they most of the times or always find the information they are seeking from search engines.
- 73% of the users believe that the information, which they get from search engines, is trustworthy and accurate.
- 55% of the users claim that the quality of search results is getting better over time.
- Only 4% believe that the search results are moving towards worst.
2. Personalization and Tracking:
Personalization and tracking of personal information is another major concern of users. The personalization feature directly impacts the search results; therefore, it also receives mixed responses from users. According to data collected from surveys:
- 86% percent of users believe that they have learned something new or knowledgeable post the implementation of personalized search.
- 45% users responded against the personalized search feature, plainly saying that Google should not use information from other sources.
- 39.1% users liked the idea of personalized search, but were concerned about their privacy.
3. Content Discovery:
According to several survey stats:
- 41% users say that they receive conflicting information from their personalized search results, because of which distinguishing the right information becomes difficult.
- After the personalized search becoming active, 31% of the users believe that search results were missing critical information.
Other Facts:
Besides the change in user trends that take place every now and then, there are some general and hard facts about online marketing that cannot be avoided, whether it be personalized or non personalized search.
- Several data sources show that the investment in online advertising will reach $19billion in 2012, meaning that there will be more business for website link building service providers, PPC marketers, and SEO specialists.
- E-commerce sales crossed $194billion in 2011, which is 16.1% more compared to 2010.
- 59% of Americans use search engine daily, where as 73% of Americans use it occasionally.
- 38% of users responded to surveys by saying that they are overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of information they receive from search engines.
Conclusion:
In short, the personalized search and information tracking has received a mixed response from users, both in terms of its methodology and the results it provides.