A Characterization of Online Search Behavior

In this paper we undertake a large-scale study of online user search behavior based on search and toolbar logs. We identify three types of search: web, multimedia, and item. Together, we show that these different flavors represent almost 10% of all online pageviews, and indirectly result in over 21% of all pageviews. We study search queries themselves, and show that more than half of them contain direct references to some type of structured object; we characterize the types of objects that occur in these queries. We then revisit the relationship search and navigation specifically in the context of e-commerce, and consider how search aids users in online shopping tasks.