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Analysis of characteristics and trends of Web queries submitted to NAVER, a major Korean search engine

This study investigates the information seeking behavior of general Korean Web users. The data from transaction logs of selected dates from August 2006 to August 2007 were used to examine characteristics of Web queries and to analyze click logs that consist of a collection of documents that users cl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Library & information science research 2009-04, Vol.31 (2), p.126-133
Main Author: Park, Soyeon
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:This study investigates the information seeking behavior of general Korean Web users. The data from transaction logs of selected dates from August 2006 to August 2007 were used to examine characteristics of Web queries and to analyze click logs that consist of a collection of documents that users clicked and viewed for each query. Changes in search topics are explored for NAVER users from 2003/2004 to 2006/2007. Patterns involving spelling errors and queries in foreign languages are also investigated. Search behaviors of Korean Web users are compared to those of the United States and other countries. The results show that entertainment is the topranked category, followed by shopping, education, games, and computer/Internet. Search topics changed from computer/Internet to entertainment and shopping from 2003/2004 to 2006/2007 in Korea. The ratios of both spelling errors and queries in foreign languages are low. This study reveals differences for search topics among different regions of the world. The results suggest that the analysis of click logs allows for the reduction of unknown or unidentifiable queries by providing actual data on user behaviors and their probable underlying information needs. The implications for system designers and Web content providers are discussed.
ISSN:0740-8188
1873-1848
DOI:10.1016/j.lisr.2009.01.003