As you will see when you click on the "key" graphic, some "keys" can be very elusive. For search engines, most people say the key to winning the popularity-usage competition is in the amount of RELEVANCE that is perceived by the users on the first or even second SERP.
The first challenge, though, is that for many years philosophers have known that there is a "Problem of Perception". A search engine user may look at a "keyword" along with some short text in an organic or paid listing, and get the illusion that it is exactly what the user is looking for, only to find out that the author of that text had something else in mind. The second challenge is that what is perceived as pertinent, connected, or applicable regarding a given matter to one user is not to another user. Relevance is very personalized. The third challenge is that even personalized, relevant SERP results must be time sensitive, as people change and evolve over time. So what is relevant in the past to one search engine user may not be relevant in the present or the future.
My previous post utilized some insights about a blogger's responsibility from Ian McAnerin. He recently posted a "Search Enging Share Chart" on the breakdown of the popularity-usage of some of the major search engines. He disclosed that he used some of the information from (I assume) the Nielsen NetRatings Search Engine Ratings that SEW published on 8/23/05. Clearly, the perception of most users is that Google brings the most relevant results to online search queries. Whether that is true or not depends, in many ways, on the individual user.
By the way, here are the statistics on the latest big monthly increase in online searches for 65 different search engines - Over 5 Billion Searches in July, 2005 alone!
Besides relevancy, I would like to hear from online search users what other factors make them use a specific search engine first, or more often than others. Does "formatting", "aesthetics" or "disclosure explanations" of what, why and how that first SERP is set up make a difference to you?
Animated image courtesy of www.artie.com.
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