The elusive search engine: How search engine use is reflected in survey reports

Abstract

AbstractThe overall aim of this article is to contribute to a research‐based understanding of the increasing invisibility of web search engines in society and to discussions about the potential impact of this invisibility. It examines how search engine use and online search activities are represented in national and regional reports on internet habits and experience published by public foundations and policy institutes. The elusiveness of search engines is understood through a theoretical perspective from infrastructure theory. National survey reports on internet habits and experience from the United States, UK, and Sweden from 2015 to 2021 are analyzed. The article shows how difficult it is to gain insights into how people search online and the role search engines play in everyday life. The nature of the survey report, which is often used to inform national policy, risks exacerbating the invisibility of search engines: what cannot be measured cannot be discussed at the policy level. This invisibility can lead to insufficient attention being paid to search engines, including their uses and effects, in legislation, in school education, and in the general formation of public knowledge about search engines in society.