Internet Users Overly Confident, But Naive

"Googlers" are happy with results, but not too search savvy, Pew study says

By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2005

Internet users are far too cocky about their online search abilities, but in reality, most don't know the origin or validity of the content they find, says a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Some 92 percent of those who surf the Web are satisfied with their search skills, with 87 percent reporting that they garner successful results most of the time. And 17 percent of users say they always find the information they're looking for.

Of the more than 2,000 adults surveyed nationwide, nearly half regularly depend on one search engine. The vast majority—68 percent—also view search engines as fair and unbiased sources of information. However, that's not necessarily true.

Search engines, such as Google or MSN, use crawler-based search engines and human-powered directories. Crawlers simply sift through millions of pages recorded in an index to find matches to a search and rank them according to what they believe is most relevant, while human-powered search engines look for matches only in the descriptions submitted. As a result, search engines don't always get it right, and nonrelevant pages make it through.

The study also found that only 38 percent of Internet users know the difference between paid and unpaid results. Ironically, almost half of all users say they would stop using search engines if they thought these sources weren't being clear about how they present their paid or sponsored results.

The Pew study doesn't surprise Cathy Delneo, chair of the technology committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association. In fact, she says the findings "seem compatible with what I see every day in a public library."

"Many people are under the impression that everything on the Internet is of equal value," says Delneo. They also expect that the most relevant and accurate information will appear at the top of the browser window when they search.

Most significantly, Delneo says, the findings reveal that the public is still not equipped to evaluate the information they find online, underscoring the need to teach information-literacy skills early.

"If students understand how browsers work they'll be in a better position to select specific browsers for specific tasks," Delneo says. "Another key element of teaching students to be information literate is to stress using databases and other tools that have been selected by librarians."

And what are users searching for online? In Pew's review of major search engines, "Britney Spears" and "Paris Hilton" were consistently among the top search terms.

The complete survey, released in late January, is available on the Pew Web site at www.pewinternet.org.