89% Find Search Engines Do Good Job Finding Information, But “Noise” Is Issue

Has Google’s relevancy gotten worse? A recent opinion poll suggests not, while at the same time confirming a concern that’s been rising in anecdotal accounts — there’s too much “noise” surrounding the “signal.”

Rasmussen Reports surveyed 740 adult Americans on January 4-5 about a variety of search engine related issues. The key question that caught my eye?

“In terms of finding what information you need, how do you rate today’s Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing …excellent, good, fair or poor?”
Most Rate Search Engines Well

In total, 89% found that search engines do a good or excellent job in finding information. Here’s the full breakdown:

    * 47% – Excellent
    * 42% – Good
    * 10% – Fair
    * 0% – Poor (technically between 0% and 1%, but specific figure not given)
    * 1% – Not sure

Does that mean Google itself is gaining such high marks? Maybe these are all Bing users? Unlikely. The survey didn’t ask which search engine people used, which was unfortunate. It did ask if people used more than one search engine at the same time. Few did:

“Do you generally use the same Internet search engine all the time?”

    * 78% – Yes
    * 19% – No
    * 3% – Not sure

Since Google is by far the most popular search engine in the US, it’s reasonable to assume that the overall satisfaction numbers indicated overall satisfaction with Google.

But Noise Is An Issue

If search engines are doing such a great job in general, and Google in particular, why have we seen a spate of posts recently suggesting that Google’s gotten worse? I think the answer is in another question from the poll:

“Which is a bigger problem when you use an Internet search engine – that you can’t find what you need or that your query generates too much irrelevant data?”

    * 70% – That your query generates too much irrelevant data
    * 13% – That you can’t find what you need
    * 18% – Not sure

Only 13% say they can’t find what they’re looking for. The answers are there, the “signal” that people want to tune into. They’re just surrounded by a lot of noise.
Another Poll With Seemingly Conflicting Findings

I think you see a similar frustration in a poll that Lifehacker just ran. This gathered nearly 10,000 responses to the question:

“Have Google’s Search Results Become Less Useful To You?”

    * 43.8% – Kind of/sort of, but it’s still the best way to get at the good stuff
    * 33.8% – Absolutely. The spammers have gained a significant foothold
    * 11.2% – I haven’t really noticed a change
    * 7.1% – I’d say no, or not to the point where it matters, at least
    * 3.6% – No, and actually, my results have been better and more convenient lately
    * 0.6% – Other

The headline on Lifehacker’s poll results story was “Over 77 Percent of Lifehacker Readers Say Google’s Search Results are Less Useful Lately,” which combined the two most popular responses, one that is totally negative and one that can be read either way (results are less useful, but Google’s still the best way to find things).
For more info- http://searchengineland.com/89-find-search-engines-do-good-job-but-noise-is-issue-61064