Marketing on the Web

Type of Searches performed on Search Engines

What made me to think about this! Ha, It was about 6 years ago me on my way to work to Manhattan. When I happen to ask the fellow commuter for the direction and name of subway station that I need to use to reach British consulate office, which I was planning on doing in couple of days. He gave me a weird look why are you asking me about that and why don’t you search on net!. Today! I will have the same look if somebody asks me similar question. So that brings me to write this….
According to Internet Marketing Association, the usage of Search Engine is rising 9% every year, on 2003 it was 35%. Thought I can give a try to find all the type of search performed on Search Engines.

My immediate reaction was reaching Google and typing keyword “search types on search engine”. My eyes were glued on the first result http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ToolsTables.html for a while until I found it is not specific. The rest of the first page results are either some search tool or adsense affiliate marketing sites with page full of shouting “Buy Now” and “Click here”. Then tried yahoo, considerably good links but most of them were outdated say 5 to 3 years old.

Then turned my search to scholar.google.com ? voila! Presented with useful link primarily research and thesis papers …Google is Google. ( I hope the researchers and scholars don’t turn themselves to search engine optimization for higher visibility).

My learnings on Search Types given below

Navigational
Looking for a specific web site that I have in mind. Although I can guess the URL , the only reason I am searching through Search engine is that it is more convenient than typing the URL. Or don’t know the URL. Scholars call such searching as Navigational

Example:
Easy Jet airline
University hospital Chicago
Car blue book

Directed
When someone want to learn something in particular about a topic. From our example, rather looking for generic terms “keyword search types” say I want to know type the of search performed only in google or in Yahoo. Such cases can be called as Directed.

Search engine usage analysts further categorize the Directed search type in two.
Closed Search and Open ended Search. In closed search, the browser (I mean consumer or user) determined to get an answer to a question that has single unambiguous answer.
For example,
Type of search performed on Google between 2004 to 2006

The open ended search queries, normally doesn’t have definite answer. Or one with unconstrained depth.

Undirected
When user want to learn anything/everything about a topic. A search query for topic x might be interpreted as “Tell me about Clinton and monica”

Advice
When searcher seeks advice, ideas, suggestions or instructions.
For example How to stop the frequent checking of my google adsense income.

Locate
Looking for information whether / where some real world service or product can be obtained.
For example: Internet Marketing e-books
List
When user want to get a list of plausible suggested web sites. Each of which might be candidate for helping the user to achieve some underlying unspecified goal.
For example:
Travel to Seattle
Universities in Oregon
Portland Newspapers

Resources
Seeking web pages where I can obtain the resources. Can be further divided into three

Download
For example Download free Search Marketing teaching book,

Interaction
Interacting web page which has resource to resolve my problem
Simple example is looking for currency converter from dollar to Pounds.

Obtain
Goal is to obtain a resource that does not require a compute use. I may print it out, but I can also just look at it on the screen. I am not obtaining it to learn some information, but because I want to use resource itself.

Perfect example is “Internet Information Act Page 12”