Purpose: To compare five major Web search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com, and Seekport) for their retrievaleffectiveness, taking into account not only the results but also the results descriptions.Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses real-life queries. Results are made anonymous and are randomised. Resultsare judged by the persons posing the original queries.Findings: The two major search engines, Google and Yahoo, perform best, and there are no significant differences betweenthem. Google delivers significantly more relevant result descriptions than any other search engine. This could be one reasonfor users perceiving this engine as superior.Research Limitations: The study is based on a user model where the user takes into account a certain amount of results rathersystematically. This may not be the case in real life.Practical Implications: Implies that search engines should focus on relevant descriptions. Searchers are advised to use othersearch engines in addition to Google.Originality/Value: This is the first major study comparing results and descriptions systematically and proposes new retrievalmeasures to take into account results descriptions.Article type: Research paper
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