The 2008 Search Attitudes Report reveals that over half (51 per cent) of British consumers are now aware of the difference between natural and paid-for search results, an increase of eight per cent since 2007, and 91 per cent prefer using natural search results when looking to buy a product or service. Although awareness has increased across the board since last year, there is still a clear generational divide with almost two in three (65 per cent) of 16-24 year olds aware of the difference. This figure decreases gradually through the age groups with only 38 per cent of over 55s being aware of the difference between paid and natural search.

Men and women think alike

Unlike 2007, the 2008 Search Attitudes Report revealed no signs of a gender divide when it comes to the preference of natural search results over paid search. Over half (58 per cent) of both men and women identified the independence of natural search results as the most important reason for this. Independence was closely followed the perception that natural search results are more likely to give the consumer what they are looking for.

The British still don’t trust sponsored links

The 2008 Search Attitudes Report indicates that sponsored links continue to suffer greatly from consumer scepticism with more than one in three consumers (31 per cent) saying that they choose natural over paid results because they trust their search engine of choice to give them the most relevant results and almost one in five (18 per cent) identifying extra information that accompanies natural search results (i.e. the text explaining the result) as a factor in choosing natural over paid search results. The importance of these factors was uniform across all generations, demonstrating a consensus of opinion brought by an increased understanding of paid and natural search.

Neil Jackson, Search Director, Tamar comments, “Consumer awareness of the difference between natural and paid search continues to increase and as it does so, paid search continues to suffer largely because of its perceived lack of independence. The fact that there has been alignment of opinion across gender and generation is a result of this increased understanding and it is more important than ever that brands move away from an over-reliance on paid search and implement a joined-up search strategy.”

Which results do you tend to favour when searching for shops and products?  Do you trust results that you see in paid search?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am and is filed under Online shopping news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.