Searching the Internet

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  • on 01.06.09
  • creampiesca.com
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  • Why has searching the internet become a more progressively stressful experience in the past 2 years, so much so that internet users are willing to pay untrained researchers, often to the tune of over $100, just to avoid the stress of finding an answer to an often, from a research point of view, simple question?


  • Can you give an example of a ca. $100 question that you consider a simple research task? This will help researchers focus on specifics in attempting to answer your question.


  • I would prefer not to, as my question is research in-itself for a sociological peice, and this would make my queery sound as if it was a personal attack on this serivce, or others, or even perhaps individual researchers. I asure you it is not. I do however wish to help you in any-way I can so I will post several links which I have quickly searched for, but would prefer it if I didn't get individual address to each one of the questions. http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=254250 http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=95875 http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=225082 My article will be focusing on the ways people have found, do find, and will find information on the internet. I am curious to know, from an internet researcher's perspective, a little about why we have seen a shift towards paying for people to find information for us, or just not finding it at all; in contrast from easilly finding it for free ourselves back only a few years ago. Thanks,


  • Hi, Matt, I would argue several of your points. For instance, I don't know that "searching the internet become a more progressively stressful experience in the past 2 years". It always has been stressful, it always has been hard work. Searching may even have got easier: the advanced search facilities of many search engines today takes all the hassle out of the complicated syntax needed for advanced searches. It may have got harder: as the volume of information on the internet increases and as the search engines get better at finding and indexing it, so it may be harder to find any one strand, or combination of strands of information. I don't think Google Researchers, if it is Google Researchers you are referring to here, are untrained. They may sometimes lack formal training and qualifications in internet searching, they may be self-taught and their areas of expertise may be specific rather than general (but so may be the areas of expertise of professional searchers), but the screening process used in recruitment of Google Researchers does make sure that Researchers have search and reference and answer skills. No-one said searching the internet is easy, and it is a mistake to think it is. Nor are all answers to be found on the internet. Many amateurs may miss out on the best information, many are too easily satisfied by the first answer they get: "Most people think they do a pretty good job searching the Web - because they never know what they?re missing." Mary-Ellen Mort: "The Info Pro?s Survival Guide to Job Hunting," Searcher 10 (7), July/August 2002 General search engines satisfy the general searcher. "Remember that the search engines are designed first and foremost for the general searcher, the one who enters a few words and hopes to get one moderately good answer, or at least an interesting site that will distract from the original information request." Greg R Notess: "On The Net - Unusual Power Web Searching Commands," Online, Nov/Dec 2003 Above all, searching takes time. I would suggest that those $100 questions are not as easy as they look, if they were then the searcher would have found his/ her answer. They are more complicated, they take time, they involve multiple search in not so obvious places. The searcher may not have that time, may not have that expertise, may not have the background knowledge to know which avenues of search to pursue and which to discard, may be too easily distracted. "The Web is a procrastination apparatus: It can absorb as much time as is required to ensure that you won't get any real work done." Jakob Nielsen: "Information Pollution," Alertbox, August 11, 2003. Finally, I would suggest there are no dumb questions. If the inquirer does not know, then the inquirer does not know, and the question is real (however easy to someone else who does know where or how to look for the answer). Take that notion and throw in the time factor, and it becomes a matter of market value: how much is having the answer worth? I did say finally, but I have an extra thought. Don't forget the Google Answers community, those comments and asides and, so often, the common working together to make sure the inquirer gets an answer that satisfies all round: there is added value there, often worth far more than the basic answer. No search strategy to share, I'm afraid, just some of the sceptical comments I've collected recently. Hope this answer satisfies, but if not, please ask for clarification before giving a rating. Best, r2l







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