Most US web users regularly experience ‘search engine fatigue’, according to a poll carried out by Kelton Research and commissioned by AutoByTel.
The report, which surveyed 1,000 US web users, looked at how users looking for cars interacted with search engines, finding that 7 out of 10 Americans get frustrated with search engines – ‘search engine fatigue’, according to the report.
Other findings from the poll:
- 65.4% of Americans have spent two or more hours searching for specific information on search engines.
- 75.1% of those who have experienced search engine fatigue say they often leave their computers without finding the information they were searching for.
Respondents were asked to explain the reasons for their frustration with search engines, and the number one complaint was the amount of clutter in the search results pages.
25% cited a deluge of results as their main gripe with search engines, 24% were concerned by the dominance of paid listings, 18.8% were unhappy with the ability of the search engines to understand their search queries, while 18.6% were unhappy about the way results were displayed.
Frustrated by the experience of searching and not finding information, many respondents said they would like search engines to be able to meet their needs more effectively. 78% said they would like Google and Yahoo to be able to read their minds.
