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The Power of Habit is Strong

Why So Many Use Google's Search Engine

New study shows that it's not always quality that determines which search engine we use.

Ove Kaufeldt
Published

A new study shows that it is not always better quality that determines which search engine we use - often it is a matter of habit. The study, titled Sources of Market Power in Web Search: Evidence from a Field Experiment, was conducted by researchers from Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT.

In the experiment, approximately 2,500 people were paid to try Bing instead of searching on Google for two weeks. When the period was over, participants had to choose: would they continue with Bing or return to their usual search engine, Google? Despite the majority choosing to continue with Google, it turned out that almost 22 percent opted for Bing over Google.

The study shows that a major reason why Google dominates the market is not just the quality of the technology, but that Google is set as the default on many computers, smartphones, and tablets. This means we often "neglect" to consider what alternatives actually exist, and it shows how habits and default choices affect our decisions. If you are already used to opening a webpage with Google, it is not so tempting to switch even if another option proves to be just as good or better. The survey also showed that a large proportion of Google users had never tried another search engine, but out of habit and convenience, only used the default option - which Google pays to be.

The study shows that theoretically, Bing could increase its market share by up to 15 percentage points if the barriers that make us stick to the familiar option are removed. This means that if more users actively chose their search engine instead of just accepting the default option, Bing could gain a much better foothold in the market.

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