Think real-time search matters more than life itself? Perhaps, but the whole concept is still foreign to most consumers -- 73% -- who had never heard of real-time search results before
participating in a recent eye-tracking study conducted by online marketing firm OneUpWeb. What's more, only a quarter of the consumers cared for the real-time results, compared to 47% of the
information foragers, while he majority of the participants surveyed said they were indifferent to the whole idea. The study involved 44 people divided into two groups: "consumers" and "information
foragers."
The difference between the groups involved the tasks they were given: The first group was told to search for a product they might buy, and were called the "consumer" group,
while the second group was told to simply look for information on a product, and were called the "forager" group. "The study," says Search Engine Land's Greg Sterling, "seems to assert that real-time
results so far have limited impact or appeal." That, despite hurried efforts by Google, Microsoft, and Facebook to jump on the real-time bandwagon.
Read the whole story at Search Engine Land »