Houston: Majority of netizens disapproved of
search engines keeping track of their searches, regarding it
as an invasion of privacy, and also disliked targeted
advertising, a new study has claimed.
About two-thirds of search engine users disapprove of the
collection of information on their searches for the purpose of
personalising their future search results, says Pew Internet &
American Life Project, Search Engine Use study, 2012.
An equal proportion of all internet users disapprove of
being tracked for the purpose of getting targeted ads.
Around 73 per cent of search users disapproved a search
engine keeping track of their searches and using that
information to personalise future search results because they
felt it was an invasion of their privacy, the study said.
While 65 per cent of search users, according to the study,
disliked a search engine collecting information about their
searches and then using it to rank future search results,
because it may limit the information they get online.
Around 68 per cent said they were not in favour of
targeted advertising because they disapproved of their online
behaviour being tracked and analysed.
According to the study 91 per cent of search engine users
said they always or most of the times found information they
were seeking when they used search engines, while 86 per cent
of search engine users learned something new or important that
really helped them or increased their knowledge.
PTI
