Research by Norman Group Suggests Pin Machine Browsing is New User Behaviour

The research and tech specialists , Nielson Norman Group have released some interesting research finds relating to the browsing patterns of users and its evolution with a direct reference to search engine results.Now, we all know the enormous and continuous journey that search has been on in more ways than one. One of the most easily observable is the evolution of the SERPs page. Gone are the days of Google and other engines providing a linear list of rankings with sponsored results at the top and organic below. We have seen lots of changes including Google experimenting with various shades and tones of blue to increase click attention and keep a general focus on the sponsored listings at the head of the results.

Search results pages are a very different and much more vibrant place since the introduction of ‘universal search’ which has seen rich media results including news, images, videos, shopping and much more incorporated into the results pages. This is something which is being improved and added to all the time.The results page is now so vibrant and multi-media orientated that Nielson’s research into user glance (eye movement across the screen) habits and behaviours shows that instead of our once linear top down approach to digesting search results, we are now much more erratic in how we absorb the information provided to us.

The research and data group refer to the new behaviour as pinball browsing. This means that the search user’s eyes dart around the screen quickly, absorbing a greater variation of media and potential results before making their click. The findings come from a Search Meta-Analysis Project, an analysis of 471 queries made by participants in usability-testing and eye tracking studies conducted between 2017 and 2019.Dependant on the type of search, the dynamic layout of the various types of results and media will change. Meaning that there is no standard approach to browsing so users are now evaluating and distributing their attention across each page of results completely independently of any other experience.While this high-end research may be interesting to some of you, others will be asking what this really means for their site.There are a number of ways to interpret the information but the most obvious is to serve as a reminder than search has advanced and with results as diverse as this, a simple paid search strategy isn’t going to be enough to get traffic to your site. You must now approach both your paid and organic search strategies with the mindset of multi-media being essential. Paid search ads, Google shopping, image SEO basics for image results, producing video content, ensuring rich snippets are enabled where relevant – all of these actions can help you grab the attention of the pinball browser.The scope for search and how you’re represented in search results is broader than ever and users are reacting to this, which ultimately means you’ll need to look beyond the basics if you want to continue to thrive in generating search traffic for your business.