Search results

The Internet and related information services attract increasing interest from information retrieval researchers. A survey of recent publications show that frequent topics are the effectiveness of search engines, information validation and quality, user studies, design of user interfaces, data structures and metadata, classification and vocabulary based aids, and indexing and search agents. Current research in these areas is briefly discussed. The changing balance between CD‐ROM sources and traditional online searching is quite important and is noted.

Today, with the introduction of concepts such as big data, social media, corporate social responsibility and e-commerce have become part of our lives, thus the transition to Marketing 4.0 is accelerating. One of the most vital activities that affect consumers’ purchasing decisions is e-commerce. E-commerce plays a decisive role in purchasing stages and processes. For this reason, e-commerce has become an issue that increases the importance of individuals in the purchasing process and decision every day and needs to be emphasized. In line with all this, the concepts of digital marketing and e-commerce will be handled in a broad framework in this study. Moreover, the digitalization of e-commerce sites will be held in the review of literature beside the environment and techniques that can be used within the scope of digital marketing. New approaches and trends that guide modern marketing are changing day by day. The main reason for this change is based on the rapid transformation in information and communication technologies. For this reason, it is important for marketing managers to adapt to these transformations and to use media and techniques in digital marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the affective premises and economics of the influence of search engines on knowing and informing in the contemporary society.

A conceptual discussion of the affective premises and framings of the capitalist economics of knowing is presented.

The main proposition of this text is that the exploitation of affects is entwined in the competing market and emancipatory discourses and counter-discourses both as intentional interventions, and perhaps even more significantly, as unintentional influences that shape the ways of knowing in the peripheries of the regime that shape cultural constellations of their own. Affective capitalism bounds and frames our ways of knowing in ways that are difficult to anticipate and read even from the context of the regime itself.

In the relatively extensive discussion on the role of affects in the contemporary capitalism, influence of affects on knowing and their relation to search engine use has received little explicit attention so far.

This paper reports findings from the first annual cycle of a three‐year research project on the provision and use of electronic information systems (EIS) within higher education in the UK. The project, JISC User Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services (JUSTEIS), was funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and undertaken at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UWA). Students, academics and library staff in 25 universities were surveyed using critical incident and critical success factors methodologies to ascertain the range and nature of EIS use. Provision of these systems by higher education institutions was also investigated via an analysis of their library websites. The findings reported in this paper focus on student use and the purposes for which EIS are employed, and reveal the limited array of EIS used and the ad hoc nature of search strategies adopted across undergraduate and postgraduate bodies within a range of disciplines. There appears to be little or no variation in the pattern of EIS use by the various student groups studied – the effect of the Internet on information seeking by students is hugely significant and the more formal resources, such as JISC‐negotiated resources are little used. There is little evidence of coherent search strategies used by students. Recommendations for both the JISC and higher education are offered.

A ‘World Wide Web search engine’ is defined as a retrieval service, consisting of a database (or databases) describing mainly resources available on the World Wide Web (WWW), search software and a user interface also available via WWW. After intro ducing early Internet search engines, which are pertinent as precursors for the current range of WWW search engines, the problems of searching the WWW (link persistence, lack of integrated search software) and the resulting search engine types (keyword or directory) are analysed. Search engines of all types are then compared across their generic features (database content, retrieval software, and search interface), rather than on a search engine by search engine basis. Finally, wider information access issues aris ing from the nature of the Internet and web search engines are considered, and a general strategy for using web search engines is proposed.

Search engines exist to help sort through all the information available on the Internet, but have thus fair failed to shoulder any responsibility for the content which appears on the pages they present in their indexes. Search engines lack any transparency to clarify how results were found, and how they are connected to the search terms. Thus, problems arise in connection with the protection of minors – namely, that minors have access, intentional or unwitting, to content which may be harmful to them. The findings of this study point to the need for a better framework for the protection of children. This framework should include codes of conduct for search engines, more accurate labeling of Web site data, and the outlawing of search engine manipulation. This study is intended as a first step in making the public aware of the problem of protecting children on the Internet.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of online loyalty and disloyalty in search engine usage by young Millennials.

Data were collected from 495 pupils between the ages of 14 to 17 years old.

The attitude towards computers is not influencing brand loyalty. The main predictors of brand loyalty are the emotional link that users develop with the search engine, the attitude towards said engine, and in particular the perceived quality of results. The best predictors of disloyalty are the level of two‐way communication, the lack of satisfaction as well as the involvement of the user with computers, while the actual perceived characteristics of the search engine are not predicting disloyalty.

Since the data were collected from one school in the UK only, the teenage internet users in the study's sample are likely to come from families with a similar profile. For further research a sample drawn from other areas, therefore, more representative of the make‐up of the population in the UK would be interesting.

Given the importance of teenage users and their expected long‐term value as internet users, this paper is contributing to the literature by understanding some of the key drivers of their loyalty and disloyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Google in everyday online searching activities of Swedish teenagers in different contexts.

The study is qualitative and material has been produced through interviews and observations in two different schools with participants aged 15-16. Goffman’s frame analysis provides the analytical lens for studying how activities are assigned meaning.

Three different framings in relation to using Google and googling are identified in the material: Google and fact-finding, Google as a neutral infrastructure, and Google as an authority. There is an interplay between activity, context, and interaction in defining the role of Google. In relation to school, the fact-finding framing is more pronounced whereas the infrastructure framing comes forth more in their free time activities. The authority framing cuts across both framings and underpins their trust in the search engine.

The study addresses the way that Google is embedded in online activities and how the search engine is viewed in various contexts, as well as how it is made invisible in some contexts. Previous research has not addressed Google’s role in specific in relation to various everyday uses.

The use of search engines has become increasingly common. While Google has an overwhelming majority of the market share, new and innovative search techniques are being developed. An example of these is the clustering interface used by a number of search engines, whereby results are grouped and visualised according to categories. The purpose of this paper is to examine user perceptions and experience of using clustering.

In total, 12 Palmerston North City Library (New Zealand) staff members and patrons were recruited and the data were gathered through both observations of a search using a clustering search engine (Carrot2Clustering) and via semi‐structured interviews. The data were analysed according to four themes: features, look and feel, results and clusters.

The findings from this study revealed that the use of clusters can assist users in the search process in several ways. Evidence was also found to support previous research indicating the importance of labelling the clusters.

This exploratory research provides some insights into users' perceived cognitive load in using a clustering search engine as compared to using a list‐based search engine. The authors explored how searchers compare their overall experience of using clustering search engines to using traditional list‐based engines and the extent to which the clustering presentation influences the progression of a search. The authors also examined the extent to which searchers make use of the feedback a clustering search engine provides to refine, rephrase or redefine their initial search.