SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

March 9, 2012 by Gary Price

New Report/Statistics from Pew Internet: Search Engine Use 2012

March 9, 2012 by Gary Price

Search Engine Use 2012
Pew Internet & American Life Project
March 2012

Direct to Report ||| PDF Version

Summary of Findings

Search engines remain popular—and users are more satisfied than ever with the quality of search results—but many are anxious about the collection of personal information by search engines and other websites.
Most search users disapprove of personal information being collected for search results or for targeted advertising
The Pew Internet & American Life survey in February 2012 included several questions probing how respondents feel about search engines and other websites collecting information about them and using it to either shape their search results or target advertising to them. Clear majorities of internet and search users disapprove of these practices in all the contexts we probed.
Specifically, the survey posed the following choices to search engine users:
65% say…
It’s a BAD thing if a search engine collected information about your searches and then used it to rank your future search results, because it may limit the information you get online and what search results you see
29% say…
It’s a GOOD thing if a search engine collected information about your searches and then used it to rank your future search results, because it gives you results that are more relevant to you
73% say they would…
NOT BE OKAY with a search engine keeping track of your searches and using that information to personalize your future search results because you feel it is an invasion of privacy
23% say they would…
Be OKAY with a search engine keeping track of your searches and using that information to personalize your future search results, even if it means they are gathering information about you
All internet users were posed the following choice regarding targeted advertising:68% say…
I’m NOT OKAY with targeted advertising because I don’t like having my online behavior tracked and analyzed
28% say…
I’m OKAY with targeted advertising because it means I see advertisements and get information about things I’m really interested in
NOT BE OKAY with a search engine keeping track of your searches and using that information to personalize your future search results because you feel it is an invasion of privacy

You’ll Also Learn

  • Overall views of search engine performance are very positive
  • Most internet users say they do not know how to limit the information that is collected about them by a website
  • Overall, search users are confident in their abilities
  • Positive search experiences are more common than negative experiences
  • Google continues to be the most popular search engine, by a wide margin

Direct to Report ||| PDF Version
See Also: Analysis and Commentary by Danny Sullivan (via Search Engine Land)

Filed under: Patrons and Users, Resources

SHARE:

Search EnginesWeb Search

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent Articles on LJ

Prince George’s County Memorial Library System Targeted by Anti-LGBTQIA+ Vandalism

Positioned for Power: Hiring an EDI Officer | Equity

On Critical Cataloging: Q&A with Treshani Perera | Equity

DEI Audits: The Whole Picture | Equity

There Are No Lanes: Rural Libraries Do It ALL | Backtalk

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

New Research on Privacy: "Online Tracking: A 1-Million-Site Measurement and Analysis"

From researchers at Princeton University, a new research paper (draft) titled, “Online tracking: A 1-million-site measurement and analysis” by Steven Englehardt and Arvind Narayanan From the Abstract We present the ...

Price on Privacy | Charleston Conference 2015

During this year’s Charleston Conference I had the opportunity to speak about library privacy—and digital privacy in general—on a panel organized by Ann Okerson with co-panelists, Lisa Macklin (Emory University) ...

New Research Paper: "Towards Understanding User Preferences From User Tagging Behavior"

The following paper was recently made available on arXiv. Title Towards Understanding User Preferences from User Tagging Behavior Authors Amandianeze O. Nwana Cornell University Tsuhan Chen Cornell University Source via ...

Data: EPA Releases Updated Environmental and Public Health Indicators in Online Database

From the Environmental Protection Agency: Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released updated environmental and public health indicators in an online database, making information about the current and historical ...

New Full Text Research Article: "A Theory of Mobile Library Service Delivery"

Note: infoDOCKET would once again like to thank the team at SAGE for opening up their paywall and allowing us to provide free, full text access to a journal article ...

Google Patent Search Adds Option to Include Relevant Results From Google Scholar & More

From the Google Blog: The ability to search for the most relevant references–the best prior art–is more important today than ever. Patent filings have steadily increased with 600,000 applications filed ...

Numismatics: U.S. Mint Launches App For iOS and Android

From Today’s Launch Announcement: The United States Mint today announced the release of MyUSMint, the bureau’s new mobile application (app) for Android and iOS. [Clip] The free mobile app is ...

New Opinion Paper from Science Europe Calls for ‘Diamond Engagement’ around Open Access to High Quality Research Output

From Science Europe: A new Opinion Paper has been published today by Science Europe’s Scientific Committee for the Social Sciences. The publication, entitled ‘The Need for ‘Diamond Engagement’ around Open ...

Oxford University's Bodleian Libraries Launches Digital.Bodleian, A New "One-Stop" Online Portal

Digital.Bodleian utilizes iNQUIRE, digital discovery software from Armadillo Systems. The company plans to make the software open source sometime in the near future. From the U. of Oxford: The Digital.Bodleian ...

Health: Data: AIDSVu Posts New Interactive Maps Online

From the AIDSVu Web Site: AIDSVu [presented by the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in partnership with Gilead Sciences] is pleased to release its annual June launch ...

UNESCO Publishes New Study: "Countering Online Hate Speech"

From UNESCO: UNESCO presented its new publication “Countering Online Hate Speech” during the conference on Youth and the Internet: Fighting Radicalization and Extremism held in UNESCO Paris Headquarters on 16 ...

Online Privacy & Transparency: Electronic Frontier Foundation Releases Fifth Annual “Who Has Your Back” Report

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation: Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released its fifth annual “Who Has Your Back” report, charting tech companies’ commitment to the next frontier of user ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW INFODOCKET ON TWITTER

Tweets by @infodocket

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.