Visual Attention To Online Search Engine Results
Visual attention to Online Search Engine
Results
An exploration into differences in eye movements between consumers
searching for product information and consumers searching for product
transactions using Google, MSN (now Windows Live Search), Ilse, Kobala,
and Lycos
A study by Market Research Agency De Vos & Jansen
in cooperation with full service Search Engine Media Agency Checkit
Auteurs
dr. Marnix S. van Gisbergen (Research Director De Vos & Jansen Market Research)
drs. Jeroen van der Most (Project Manager De Vos & Jansen Interactive)
mr. Paul Aelen (Co-founder and Marketing Director Checkit)
Background information
information. After all, the importance of a
proper choice from the results appears to
be greater. It is also likely that transaction
This report contains the results of an eye-
searchers focus on other aspects than
tracking study by Search Engine Media
information
searchers.
Transaction
Agency Checkit and Market Research
searchers are probably more focused on
Agency De Vos & Jansen concerning the
words which generate a feeling of
viewing habits of consumers for search
familiarity,
such
as
a
brand,
and
engines. It turns out that consumers
information searchers are more attracted to
searching the internet in order to make a
words which show independence, such as
transaction view a larger number of
the possibility of comparing products.
search results and are more influenced by
branding than consumers searching for
Eye-tracking is not often applied for
information.
usability research for websites. Only a
small part of the cognitive process can be
made clear on the basis of click behaviour.
For instance, we do not know why click
Although previous studies provide
behaviour for a hyperlink or banner
information about viewing patterns for
decreases (or increases). We also cannot
online search (e.g., Salojarvi, Kojo, Jaana
tell how many (sponsored) search results a
& Kaski, 2003; Granaka, Joachims, &
consumer views before making a choice
Gay, 2004; Klockner, Wirschum &
(clicking).
Jameson, 2004), there has not been a study
which
distinguishes
between
search
Aim
behaviour aimed at information and at
The aim of this study is to discover as
effecting a transaction. According to
many differences as possible in viewing
Broder (2002) about half of the search
habits for online search engines between
queries are aimed at gathering information
consumers searching for information and
and the purpose of about one-third is
consumers searching for a transaction.
effecting a transaction. Consumers who
are searching for a transaction are
particularly important for advertisers. A
consumer searching for a possibility to buy
a product is closer to the act of buying than
a consumer who is still gathering
information.
It is likely that consumers show different
viewing habits when searching for a
transaction
than
for
information.
Figure 1: Eye movements on a page with search results dots
Consumers aimed at a transaction possibly
(fixations) are spots which have been viewed. The lines are
movements of the eye between the fixations.
search more elaborately in online search
engines than consumers searching for
information. When you are searching for a
transaction you probably will view more
search results and take more time to view
the results than when you are searching for
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Research Method
during
saccades,
although
often
unconsciously.
The eye movements of search engine
Data
users have been researched when viewing
websites as a result of a list of queries. A
Five search engines have been used to
distinction has been made between the
supply the webpages for our study Google,
viewing habits of (A) searching for
MSN (now Windows Live Search), Ilse,
information
and
(B)
effecting
a
Lycos and Kobala. The search engine
transaction.
Kobala was added in order to study the
influence of the absence of sponsored
T
search results. The respondents searched
ools
five popular e-commerce products: a loan
De Vos & Jansen Interactive used an
for a renovation, a second-hand car, a car
advanced infrared camera system (IviewX-
insurance, a airline ticket to New York and
RED-III), with which eye movements can
a Philips mp3-player. In total 25 different
be measured in a natural and familiar
pages with search results were studied
situation without physical discomfort
with on average 15 search results per page.
(head clips). The research situation is
The average number of organic search
therefore comparable to how people use
results is 10. When shown, there are 3
websites at home. An infrared camera
sponsored search results on average at the
accurately registers the spot of the eyes on
top of the page. When a page shows
the website (deviation of 0,5-1 degree),
sponsored search results at the side, there
and the spot of the eye is measured 50
are 5 results on average.
times per second (60 Hz). A camera
compensated for the head movements
(space around the head to move freely
within a virtual box of 40cm to 40cm to
80cm). For the analysis De Vos & Jansen
used the GazeTracker. An advanced
software package, which makes it possible
to register and visualize eye movements
while people are naturally navigating
through websites.
Attention: what do we measure?
Eye movements consist of fixations and
saccades. A fixation is a short relative
standstill of the eye, when a person
consciously processes information. The
Figure 2: The Checkit National Search Engine Monitor
longer the time of the fixation, the more
the consumer is trying to process the
information. Several studies show that
fixations are longer on areas valued high
on the information scale. A saccade is a
quick movement of the eye between
fixations. Information is also processed
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Apart from the actual search behaviour,
Respondents
the motives why people click on a certain
search result have also been studied. In a
Fifty consumers participated in this study.
written questionnaire, after the eye-
The participants are between 17 and 24
tracking session, people were asked to
years old and use the internet six days a
explain their reasons for clicking on a
week on average. The majority (90%)
certain search result.
effected a transaction at least once on the
internet and 17% regularly buys on the
internet. Books and airline tickets are
bought most often on the internet. On
average the participants agreed a little with
the
posing
‘I
am
annoyed
by
advertisements
on
websites’.
All
respondents use Google. 79% of the
respondents has used search engine Ilse,
48% has used MSN and 29% has used
Lycos. Kobala was not known to the
respondents.
Figure 3: IviewX-RED-III + Gazetracker
D
esign
The respondents were told that they were
participating in a study about consumer
surfbehaviour on search engine sites (as in
Aula, Majantra & Raiha, 2005). Every
respondent was shown five pages in
random order (a page of every search
engine). Half the respondents received
queries aimed at a transaction. The other
half received queries aimed at gathering
information. Between the groups are no
significant differences concerning gender
and age, experience on the internet and
experience and preference to the different
search engines. Two example queries
aimed at a transaction and at information:
“You would like to contract a loan for a
renovation. On the next page you will find links to
websites on which you can contract a loan. Select
the website on which you would like to contract the
loan by clicking on the link to the website.”
“You are searching for information about loans
for a renovation. On the next page you will find
links to websites about loans. Select the website on
which you would like to search information by
clicking on the link to the website”.
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Results
the increase in the number of viewed
organic results.
Range: organic results viewed most often
The sponsored results on the right side
Total
Number
Viewing
reached a relatively small number of
Viewing
of
Duration
respondents. 98% of the respondents
Duration
Results
per
viewed the organic results, 95% the
Result
sponsored results at the top and 31% the
Transaction
sponsored results on the right.
11,4
9,9
1,2
query
Number of viewed search results: 9
Information
9,4
8,5
1,1
On average are 9,2 results were viewed
query
before the first click was made. The
Total
10,4
9,2
1,1
average number of viewed organic search
results is 6,6. Of the sponsored results at
the top and on the right respectively 2,6
Table 1: Differences in search behaviour between consumers
searching for a transaction and searching for information.
and 0,6 results were viewed.
T
Average viewing duration: 10 seconds
he average viewing duration per search
O
result did not show a significant difference
n average, consumers spent 10,4
between consumers searching for a
seconds on a page to view the search
transaction and those searching for
results. Organic results were viewed 8,8
information. The extra viewing duration
seconds on average. The sponsored results
for transaction queries does not result in
at the top and on the right were viewed
giving more attention to a search result.
less long; 2,0 and 0,2 seconds.
Consumers start at the top of the page, for
transaction pageviews as well as for
Average viewing duration per result: 1,1 second
information pageviews. A very small
Advertisers should communicate within
number of people skipped one or more
the consumer in a very short period of
sponsored results at the top and starts with
time. The average viewing duration for a
the first organic search result. After that,
search result is 1,1 second. The average
the eye moves down and during this
viewing duration for an organic result is
movement the information searchers quit
1,3 seconds and for a sponsored result at
their search. The consumers who viewed
the top 0,8 second. The sponsored results
the bottom search results were searching
on the right were viewed only short
more often for a transaction than for
(average 0,2 seconds).
information.
Transaction searchers view more results
Consumers searching for a transaction
Differences between search engines
viewed more results than consumers
No important differences were found
searching for information (illustrated in
between the search engines. The total
Table 1 and Figure 4 and 5 on page 6). The
viewing duration for Google seems to be
total viewing duration is therefore also
less than for the other search engines
longer when one is searching for a
though (9,6 seconds). Kobala shows fewer
transaction. The difference in viewed
results per page, 10 on average, due to the
search results can be largely attributed to
absence of sponsored results. This could
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be an explanation for the smaller number
(brand)exposure for (potential) consumers.
of viewed results at Kobala (7,3 on
A high position in the (sponsored) results
average) and consumers look at the results
is also vital in order to receive attention.
a little longer (1,5 seconds).
The sponsored results on the right receive
less attention. It is also important to give
Click motives: brand versus keyword
enough thought to the contents of search
There are seven motives why people click
result because most consumers take a very
on a search result. An important reason to
quick look at a search result. It is of great
click is (1) the familiarity with and
importance that the target audience is
reliability of the website or organization.
motivated in a single second to click on a
Keywords which refer to a brand are
link to the website. This is an important
therefore very important. (2) A high
task for the copywriter: the message has to
position in the search results also creates
be processed quickly, knowing that
trust and suggests to the respondents that
references to keywords and the brand are
the information is recent. (3) A third
important reasons for clicking on the link.
important reason for clicking is the
presence of the keyword in the search
Respondents searching for a transaction
result. (4) Consumers are also looking for
show a different viewing behaviour than
certain website services such as the
respondents searching for information. The
opportunity to read user experiences or to
results at the bottom of the list of search
compare different products. (5) (Indirect)
results
are
also
valuable
because
price information is important: especially
consumers who are searching for a
keywords which refer to ‘low costs’. (6)
transaction view more results. These
The announcement that there is a large
results are mainly viewed by consumers
variety of products can also be a reason for
who are planning to buy on the internet.
respondents to click on the search result.
(7) Finally, consumers seem to avoid
results
with
aggressive
advertising.
Preventing (too) many capital letters and
exclamation
marks
can
positively
influence click behaviour.
A consumer with an information query is
more inclined to click on a search result
because the keyword is present in the
search
result.
Consumers
with
a
transaction query however will sooner
search for a known and trustworthy name
(brand) in the search results.
DO’S AND DONT’S
It is clear that consumers view relatively
many search results before making a
choice to click on a result. Search engines
are therefore an important tool to generate
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Figure 4: Eye movements of a person searching for information on a page with search results. The hills are the spots which the person
has looked at. The higher the hills, the longer the person looked at the spot.
Figure 5: Eye movements of a person searching for a transaction on a page with search results. The hills are the spots which the person
has looked at. The higher the hills, the longer the person looked at the spot.
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References
Aula, A., Majaranta, P., & Räihä, K.-J. (2005) Eye-tracking Reveals the Personal Styles for
Search Result Evaluation. Proceedings of INTERACT 2005, LNCS 3585, September
12-
16, 1058-1061
Broder, A. (2002). A taxonomy of web search. SIGIR For. 36, 2, 3–10.
Granka, L., Joachims, T., and Gay, G. (2004). Eye-Tracking Analysis of User Behavior in
WWW Search. Proceedings of the 28th Annual ACM Conference on Research and
Development in Information and Retrieval. (SIGIR '04). Sheffield, UK.
Rele R. S., and Duchowski A. T. (2005). Using Eye Tracking to Evaluate Alternative Search
Results Interfaces. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society,
September 26-30, 2005, Orlando, FL, HFES.
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