User behavior in the search engines results page: a study based on the eye tracking technique

Authors

  • Mari-Carmen Marcos El profesional de la información
  • Cristina González-Caro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2010.jul.03

Keywords:

Information retrieval, Search engines, User intention, Eye tracking, User behavior.

Abstract

A study based on Google and Yahoo! page results using eye tracker technique is presented. Participants (n=58) attempted informational, navigational, transactional or multimedia tasks. Sessions were recorded with an eye tracker to determine whether the intention behind queries affects the way people browse the results page. Eye fixations in title, snippet, url and images were analyzed in the three first organic and sponsored results. In general terms, the results demonstrate that a relationship exists between the users´ intention and their behavior when they browse the results page. Knowing this behavior is important for search engine designers because they can improve their results pages depending on the users´ query intentions.

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Published

2010-07-19

How to Cite

Marcos, M.-C., & González-Caro, C. (2010). User behavior in the search engines results page: a study based on the eye tracking technique. Profesional De La información, 19(4), 348–358. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2010.jul.03