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Public awareness and attitudes towards search engine optimization.

This research focuses on what users know about search engine optimization (SEO) and how well they can identify results that have potentially been influenced by SEO. We conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German online population (N = 2,012). We found that 43% of users assu...

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Published in:Behaviour & Information Technology Vol. 42; no. 8; pp. 1025 - 1045
Main Authors: Lewandowski, Dirk, Schultheiß, Sebastian
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jun2023
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      jtl: Behaviour & Information Technology
      issn: 0144929X
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      dt: Jun2023
      vid: 42
      iid: 8
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/0144929X.2022.2056507
        164083943
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        atl: Public awareness and attitudes towards search engine optimization.
      aug:
        au:
          Lewandowski, Dirk
          Schultheiß, Sebastian
        affil: Faculty Design, Media and Information, Department of Information, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Web Search Engines Utilization
          Internet
          Public Opinion Evaluation
          Attitude to Health
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Adolescence
          Young Adult
          Adult
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          Aged
          Germany
          Questionnaires
          Information Science
          Information Literacy
          Social Media
          Descriptive Statistics
          Comparative Studies
          Chi Square Test
          Funding Source
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Aged: 65+ years
          Male
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      ab: This research focuses on what users know about search engine optimization (SEO) and how well they can identify results that have potentially been influenced by SEO. We conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German online population (N = 2,012). We found that 43% of users assume a better ranking can be achieved without paying money to Google. This is in stark contrast to the possibility of influence through paid advertisements, which 79% of internet users are aware of. However, only 29.2% know how ads differ from organic results. The term 'search engine optimization' is known to 8.9% of users but 14.5% can correctly name at least one SEO tactic. Success in labelling results that can be influenced through SEO varies by search engine result page (SERP) complexity and devices: participants achieved higher success rates on SERPs with simple structures than on the more complex SERPs. SEO results were identified better on the small screen than on the large screen. 59.2% assumed that SEO has a (very) strong impact on rankings. SEO is more often perceived as positive (75.2%) than negative (68.4%). The insights from this study have implications for search engine providers, regulators, and information literacy.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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