OneUpWeb released an eye-tracking study that showed how most searches ignore the real time search results. The takeaways from the study, as Greg Sterling recapped nicely include:
- 73% had never heard of real-time results before participating this study
- Only a quarter of the consumers cared for the real-time results compared to 47% of the information foragers
- The majority of the participants surveyed were indifferent to the real-time results
The Guardian notes that these real time results cost Google $15m and Bing $10m - what is the return on investment for that then?
A WebmasterWorld thread has conversation around this where most people say they are not surprised by the study's findings. Just hard to imagine blowing $15 million on something like this.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
