More than 75% of searches in July resulted in clicks through to websites, underlining just how adept search engines are at delivering relevant content.
Stats from Experian Hitwise show that Bing and Yahoo had the highest proportion of ‘successful searches’, meaning searches that resulted in a click-through, with 84% and 86% respectively.
Ask and Google both achieved a success rate of 76%, however it should be noted that it is increasingly common for Google to give users the answer to a query without them having to click on something.
As part of its new Knowledge Graph that was rolled out in May, Google now shows information relevant to search queries in a column to the right of the search results.
It also trialled a new interface during the Olympics that essentially acted as a minisite for information relating to all of the events and athletes.
The apparent success rates also clearly aren’t having an impact on search engine traffic.
Data from June shows that although Google’s market share dropped for the first time in four months, the change was fairly negligible and the search engine still accounts for more than 90% of UK searches.
Overall UK internet users made 2.2bn visits to search engines in June, up by 27m visits compared to June 2011. The rise in visits represents a 1.2% year-on-year increase in search activity.
Reader comments (7)
2:29PM on 16th August 2012
"however it should be noted that it is increasingly common for Google to give users the answer to a query without them having to click on something."
Very worth mentioning! Google is pulling information directly on the search results page so users don't have to click away to find it. It started with weather, but now more and more searches are pulling up information.
mediaworks online marketing
2:56PM on 16th August 2012
Interesting stats - can you post a link to the original data / source so I can check it out further?
Senior reporter at Econsultancy
3:57PM on 16th August 2012
@Marty, as far as I'm aware this data hasn't been posted anywhere else. I requested these specific stats from Experian and they were kind enough to send them across.
9:25AM on 17th August 2012
I think a lot of this can be put down to how effective the search engines are now operating following the recent Panda update. It is good to see the search engine working so effectively.
3:06PM on 17th August 2012
Great post. I also agree that the Panda update has made an effect on the levels click through. A lot of SEO experts were worried about the panda update and apparently some concerns are warranted.
4:05PM on 17th August 2012
I think the fact Yahoo and Bing claimed a better click through success rate than Google is more connected to the fact that Google's search results are poorer than ever, rather than the introduction of the Knowledge Graph. Pages and pages of listings from the same domain? Not great!
Digital Marketing Executive at Koozai
3:26PM on 21st August 2012
I wonder how much this will be effected as Google aim to present the user with more information without them having to click through to a website.
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