Understanding & Improving Search Using Large-Scale Behavioural Data

Abstract

A key benefit of text mining is that it can be used to improve the whole search experience and optimise search engine technologies. The rise of web-based search systems over the past decade has enabled information scientists to develop powerful large-scale behavioural logging technologies that provide a unique insight into ‘what searchers do’; how people interact with web-based search systems. This ability to gather traces of human behaviour on an extensive scale and speed provides the backdrop to innovation and improvement in search, complementing other forms of experimental research that observes how people engage with search systems including, for example, controlled lab-based observational studies.