Study: Users Confuse Ads, Search Results

While users may be happy with the results they get from search engines, a new study has found that most of them cannot differentiate between an embedded ad and an actual search result. The Pew Internet and American Life Project says that only 1 in 6 people can tell the difference.

Only 38 percent of users were aware there was a difference between regular and paid search engine placements.

"This finding is ironic, since nearly half of all users say they would stop using search engines if they thought engines were not being clear about how they presented paid results," said Deborah Fallows of Pew Internet.

The survey also found that nearly half or 44 percent of users primarily use one search engine, and another 48 percent use two or three. "They tend to settle quickly on a single search engine and then stick with it, rather than switching as search technology evolves or comparing results from different search systems," Fallows said.

Over two-thirds of users say they could "walk away from search engines" without much affect on their daily lives.

The telephone-based Pew study was conducted May 14 through June 17, 2004 and involved 2,200 adults, including 1,399 Internet users. Results based on Internet users have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.