...a day in the life of BBCi Search january 2003 [email_address]

january 2003

[email_address]

wednesday december 11th a weekday during term-time no major breaking news stories no major broadcast event

a weekday during term-time

no major breaking news stories

no major broadcast event

analysis process took 10 sets of 6 minute samples hand-classified 15,000 search terms compared them to a control sample

took 10 sets of 6 minute samples

hand-classified 15,000 search terms

compared them to a control sample

UK-ness

UK non UK dvla edinburgh fire first aid courses london disability discrimination newspapers film news estate agents in south africa hotels world wide nyc transit strike

UK-ness

BBC-ness

BBC-ness

BBC-ness

advanced search

advanced search

advanced search

spelling

spelling

spelling 30,000 searches with incorrect spellings every day

spelling

spelling

spelling 66% get a spelling suggestion 96% of ‘BBC’ searches with spelling mistakes have a Best Link

questions and URLs

47% - search engine only searching for search

47% - search engine only 14% - url only searching for search

47% - search engine only 14% - url only 39% - made other searches searching for search

how many words? 36% - 1 word 35% - 2 word 16% - 3 word 7% - 4 word 3% - 5 word 3% - more than 5 words

search usage by genre over time

search usage by genre over time regional world scopes world service

search usage by genre over time regional uk scopes where i live national sites

search usage by genre over time regional uk scopes uk focus - 39% ‘ fuzzy’ uk focus - 11% non uk specific - 50% no difference to search across the service as a whole

search usage by genre over time education scopes learning schools

search usage by genre over time information scopes lifestyle factual

search usage by genre over time entertainment scopes tv & radio programme sites

search usage by genre over time news & sport homepage & default

200,000 unique searches every day 4 out of 5 searches are not about the BBC 2 in 5 searches are specifically about the UK 1 in 12 searches have incorrect spelling 1 in 5 attempts to use advanced search fail searches on education peak after lunch, on entertainment in the late afternoon, and on information in the evening

how do mobile phones work? when is wallace and gromit on the television? how do i wire a light switch? what are thermometers and why are they used? what does a swimming cucumber look like? what is a zealot? what does gcse mean? how do i roast a chicken? what does empowerment mean? what is www? who is sponsored in sport? what was on? what is the fire strike about? what is songs of praise about? what is robot as air stewards? what do you know about germany bbc? what is osmosis in a boat? how do i find out what happened in my house? what do you know? what is light? how do i talk to the actors of eastenders on the computer with out the internet? who is their god? what is the weather? how can we be lovers when we can't be friends? when will it snow this year? how does the drier work in paint? what does the queen do? how do i felt a flat roof? what is a computer? who are you to judge us? how do you reconfigure certain settings on a computer? what is the david beckham rumour? how does the bbc use computers? what will happen with iraq? how does the british democratic process work? what are the signs that a guy likes you? how do internet search engines optimize results?

how do mobile phones work?

when is wallace and gromit on the television?

how do i wire a light switch?

what are thermometers and why are they used?

what does a swimming cucumber look like?

what is a zealot?

what does gcse mean?

how do i roast a chicken?

what does empowerment mean?

what is www?

who is sponsored in sport?

what was on?

what is the fire strike about?

what is songs of praise about?

what is robot as air stewards?

what do you know about germany bbc?

what is osmosis in a boat?

how do i find out what happened in my house?

what do you know?

what is light?

how do i talk to the actors of eastenders on the computer with out the internet?

who is their god?

what is the weather?

how can we be lovers when we can't be friends?

when will it snow this year?

how does the drier work in paint?

what does the queen do?

how do i felt a flat roof?

what is a computer?

who are you to judge us?

how do you reconfigure certain settings on a computer?

what is the david beckham rumour?

how does the bbc use computers?

what will happen with iraq?

how does the british democratic process work?

what are the signs that a guy likes you?

how do internet search engines optimize results?

...a day in the life of BBCi Search january 2003 [email_address]

january 2003

[email_address]