Web Search Engine Results Page Viewing Formats for Different Search Tasks

Meirav Taieb-Maimon, Hadas Harush

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Search engine results pages (SERPs) commonly organize online search results in a list-based format. Various viewing formats have been suggested to improve search effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction. However, except for the Knowledge Graph view, which is based on semantic search and appears as information boxes on the SERP, those views are rarely implemented in popular Web search engines. This study investigates the effect of three viewing formats (list, Google Knowledge Graph, and clustered list) on user performance and satisfaction when performing five common types of search tasks mapped in previous studies (navigate, find-simple, find-complex, locate/acquire, and explore/learn). A Chrome extension we developed is used to enable clustering on Google search results. While overall effectiveness was similar across viewing formats, efficiency and satisfaction varied significantly depending on the search task. The operative implication is that search engine viewing formats should adapt to the specific search task.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 1 Jan 2024

Keywords

  • Web search
  • knowledge graph
  • search engine results pages (SERPs)
  • user experience
  • viewing formats

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human Factors and Ergonomics
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Science Applications

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