Sebastian Schultheiß

Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg | HAW · Department of Information, Media and Communication

Purpose In commercial web search engine results rankings, four stakeholder groups are involved: search engine providers, users, content providers and search engine optimizers. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a multi-billion-dollar industry and responsible for making content visible through search engines. Despite this importance, little is know...

People have a high level of trust in search engines, especially Google, but only limited knowledge of them, as numerous studies have shown. This leads to the question: To what extent is this trust justified considering the lack of familiarity among users with how search engines work and the business models they are founded on? We assume that trust...

This research focuses on what users know about search engine optimization (SEO) and how well they can identify results that have potentially been influenced by SEO. We conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German online population (N = 2,012). We found that 43% of users assume a better ranking can be achieved without paying...

People use search engines to find answers to questions related to their health, finances, or other socially relevant issues. However, most users are unaware that search results are considerably influenced by search engine marketing (SEM). SEM measures are driven by commercial, political, or other motives. Due to these motivations, two questions ari...

Search engine queries are the starting point for studies in different fields, such as health or political science. These studies usually aim to make statements about social phenomena. However, the queries used in the studies are often created rather unsystematically and do not correspond to actual user behavior. Therefore, the evidential value of t...

The Result Assessment Tool (RAT) is a software toolkit for conducting research with results from commercial search engines and other information retrieval (IR) systems. The software integrates modules for study design and management, automatic collection of search results via web scraping, and evaluation of search results in an assessment interface...

The Result Assessment Tool (RAT) is a software toolkit for conducting research using results from commercial search engines and other information retrieval (IR) systems. This software combines modules used for the design and management of studies, the automatic collection of search results through web scraping, and the assessment of search results...

Search engines, such as Google, have a considerable impact on society. Therefore, undesirable consequences, such as retrieving incorrect search results, pose a risk to users. Although previous research has reported the adverse outcomes of web search, little is known about how search engine users evaluate those outcomes. In this study, we show which...

Search engines, such as Google, have a considerable impact on society. Therefore, undesirable consequences, such as retrieving incorrect search results, pose a risk to users. Although previous research has reported the adverse outcomes of web search, little is known about how search engine users evaluate those outcomes. In this study, we show which...

To gain a better understanding of user knowledge and perspectives of search engines, a fruitful approach are representative online surveys. In 2020, we conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German online population aged 16 through 69 ( N = 2,012). The online survey included 12 search engine-related sections. The questions c...

This research focuses on what users know about search engine optimization (SEO) and how well they can identify results that have potentially been influenced by SEO. We conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German online population (N = 2,012). We found that 43% of users assume a better ranking can be achieved without paying...

To gain a better understanding of user knowledge and perspectives of search engines, a fruitful approach are representative online surveys. In 2020, we conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German online population aged 16 through 69 (N = 2,012). The online survey included 12 search engine-related sections. The questions co...

Searching for medical information is both a common and important activity since it influences decisions people make about their healthcare. Using search engine optimization (SEO), content producers seek to increase the visibility of their content. SEO is more likely to be practiced by commercially motivated content producers such as pharmaceutical...

We present an overview of the work of the Search Studies research group, focusing on commercial search engines from a user perspective. This encompasses studying what users of these search engines get to see on the result pages, how users interact with search engines, and the effect both have on knowledge acquisition in society. Our research combin...

People have a high level of trust in search engines, especially Google, but only limited knowledge of them, as numerous studies have shown. This leads to the question: To what extent is this trust justified considering the lack of familiarity among users with how search engines work and the business models they are founded on? We assume that trust...

According to recent studies, search engine users have little knowledge of Google's business model. In addition, users cannot sufficiently distinguish organic results from advertisements, resulting in result selections under false assumptions. Following on from that, this study examines how users' understanding of search‐based advertising influences...

A better understanding of users' search interactions in library search systems is key to improving the result ranking. By focusing on known-item searches (searches for an item already known) and search tactics, vast improvement can be made. To better understand user behaviour, we conducted four transaction-log studies, comprising more than 4.2 mill...

The purpose of this paper is (1) to show which topics are especially fruitful for researchers interested in user behavior in commercial search engines, (2) to help researchers decide which data to collect and to what extent. We classify potential areas for IIR research along two dimensions, namely the type of interaction data used (small-scale or l...

Repräsentative Untersuchungen ergaben, dass Suchmaschinennutzer zum Großteil weder das von Werbung bestimmte Geschäftsmodell Googles kennen noch bezahlte von organischen Ergebnissen unterscheiden können. Daran knüpft die vorliegende Masterarbeit an und untersucht, welchen Einfluss der Kenntnisstand über Suchmaschinenwerbung auf das Rechercheverhalt...

The purpose of this study is to replicate a study from 2007, which found that student users trust in Google’s ability to rank results more than in their own relevance judgements. In a between-subjects experiment using eye-tracking methodology, participants (n=25) worked on search tasks where the results ranking on search engine results pages had be...

Discovery-Systeme sind Bibliothekskataloge, die auf Suchmaschinentechnologie basieren. Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit ist eine Nutzungsevaluation von beluga, dem Discovery-System der Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky. Dazu wurden die Fragen gestellt, wie die NutzerInnen in ihren Recherchen vorgehen, welche...

http://www.b-i-t-online.de/heft/2018-01/fachbeitrag-suenkler.pdf Sprachsteuerungssysteme, die den Nutzer auf Zuruf unterstützen, werden im Zuge der Verbreitung von Smartphones und Lautsprechersystemen wie Amazon Echo oder Google Home zunehmend populär. Eine der zentralen Anwendungen dabei stellt die Suche in Websuchmaschinen dar. Wie aber funktion...

Volltext: https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bib-info/files/14269/BuB_2017_11_633.pdf

Zusammenfassung Anleitungen zu verschiedensten Themen, sogenannte Tutorials, erleben seit einiger Zeit einen regelrechten Boom im Web. Immer mehr Angebote werden online gestellt; entsprechend steigt auch der Bedarf an geeigneten Plattformen und Suchinstrumenten, um diese Vielzahl für den Nutzer zu bündeln und durchsuchbar zu machen. Der Beitrag näh...

Beschrieben wird ein studentisches Projekt, das im Auftrag eines Telekommunikationsunternehmens die sprachgesteuerte Websuche vier verschiedener Systeme evaluierte und aus den Erkenntnissen Empfehlungen für die Gestaltung einer optimalen Voice Web Search ableitete. Der Beitrag versucht, die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven und Erwartungen von Auftrag...

Diese Bachelorarbeit geht der Frage nach, ob Suchmaschinennutzer der durch Google vorgegebenen Trefferreihenfolge mehr vertrauen als ihren eigenen Relevanzurteilen. Dafür wurde eine Studie aus dem Jahr 2007 repliziert. Kernbestandteil beider Arbeiten ist ein Eye-Tracking-Experiment. Dabei wurden den Probanden ohne deren Kenntnis Google-Ergebnisseit...