Canadians Pleased With Major Search Engines

By Mike Sachoff - Wed, 09/03/2008 - 17:14

Skeptical of paid ads

The majority of Canadians who go online are satisfied with their search results from search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Live Search, according to a new study by Ipsos Reid.

Eight in ten (80%) online Canadians said they are receiving the best results from their primary search engines. Sixty-six percent said their search results are objective and three-quarters said they could usually find what they are looking for on the first page of results.

When it comes to paid advertising within search results 62 percent of Canadians say they are skeptical of paid ads.

"It wasn't that long ago when paid advertisements used to appear within the search results," said study author Mark Laver.

"The skepticism shown by online Canadians is probably a reflection of past tactics and the early frontiers of search marketing."

The amount of online advertising also plays a role of Canadian's perception of search engines with one -half agreeing that it has had an affect on their perception. Twenty-eight percent said that it was always clear in paid results who the advertiser is and 52 percent said that search engines should disclose business deals in search results.

Forty-four percent said they had clicked on an ad that appeared in their search results and 29 percent said they had clicked on paid search even when the regular term appeared within their search results.

"This may lead to the conclusion that online advertisers are overpaying for their search terms, however, it is probably more a reflection of how competitive the multi-billion dollar search marketing business has become," said Laver.

"Ultimately, Internet search engines are performing extremely well. Not only do they get online Canadians where they desire to go very quickly, they are also perceived as providing excellent results. The measures search engines have taken to place advertisements away from regular search results is proving to be very pleasing for the online community and may change opinions of paid search advertising in the coming years."