Search Engine Behavior and Satisfaction:A Survey-Based Study among Users in Malaysia

Abstract

The birth of the internet in the 1990‟s did not only change the way of how people communicate but also of how they access information. The amount of information that the internet offers is enormous, it grows by the day and can be retrieved at any time – only technical issues may interrupt its constant availability. That is why the World Wide Web is nowadays the first port for information retrieval. Information retrieval tools are indispensible in this environment. They filter the information mass and allow users to locate the desired information.Search engines are one of the most popular web services.Most of what is known about user search engine behavior comes from query log analysis and clickthrough analysis. Only few studies have so far examined search engine behavior and user satisfaction from a mere user perspective.The number still shrinks when it comes to narrowing down the research focus on users of a specific country or language community. This study investigates user search engine behavior and satisfaction from the perspective of Chinese-speaking users in Malaysia. A survey made among 62 Malaysian Chinese users assesses search engine usage frequency, preferred search engines, and user priorities for search engine selection. It also assesses linguistic aspects such as preferred search language and search engine interface language. The study evaluates the users‟ satisfaction with the search results in general and the search results on the first page, with the search results of English and Chinese search queries, andthe necessity for query rephrasing. Where possible, the study compares the results with existing studies conducted in Malaysia.