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The elusive search engine: How search engine use is reflected in survey reports

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  • Cecilia Andersson
  • Olof Sundin

Abstract

The overall aim of this article is to contribute to a research‐based understanding of the increasing invisibility of web search engines in society and to discussions about the potential impact of this invisibility. It examines how search engine use and online search activities are represented in national and regional reports on internet habits and experience published by public foundations and policy institutes. The elusiveness of search engines is understood through a theoretical perspective from infrastructure theory. National survey reports on internet habits and experience from the United States, UK, and Sweden from 2015 to 2021 are analyzed. The article shows how difficult it is to gain insights into how people search online and the role search engines play in everyday life. The nature of the survey report, which is often used to inform national policy, risks exacerbating the invisibility of search engines: what cannot be measured cannot be discussed at the policy level. This invisibility can lead to insufficient attention being paid to search engines, including their uses and effects, in legislation, in school education, and in the general formation of public knowledge about search engines in society.

Suggested Citation

  • Cecilia Andersson & Olof Sundin, 2024. "The elusive search engine: How search engine use is reflected in survey reports," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 75(5), pages 613-624, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:75:y:2024:i:5:p:613-624
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.24819
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Olof Sundin & Dirk Lewandowski & Jutta Haider, 2022. "Whose relevance? Web search engines as multisided relevance machines," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(5), pages 637-642, May.
    2. A. Daly & A. Scardamaglia, 2017. "Profiling the Australian Google Consumer: Implications of Search Engine Practices for Consumer Law and Policy," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 299-320, September.
    3. Carmi, Elinor & Yates, Simeon J. & Lockley, Eleanor & Pawluczuk, Alicja, 2020. "Data citizenship: Rethinking data literacy in the age of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 9(2), pages 1-22.
    4. Simeon Yates & John Kirby & Eleanor Lockley, 2015. "Digital Media Use: Differences and Inequalities in Relation to Class and Age," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(4), pages 71-91, November.
    5. Dirk Lewandowski & Friederike Kerkmann & Sandra Rümmele & Sebastian Sünkler, 2018. "An empirical investigation on search engine ad disclosure," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(3), pages 420-437, March.
    6. Susan Leigh Star & Karen Ruhleder, 1996. "Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 111-134, March.
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    1. Dirk Lewandowski & Jutta Haider & Olof Sundin, 2024. "JASIST Special Issue Editorial: Re‐orienting search engine research in information science," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 75(5), pages 503-511, May.

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