Justin ClemensSearching for a Trusting Relationship
Being ranked first for your keywords in major search engines is bound to get you a lot of clicks, but it might also help you get something you didn't expect — unquestioned trust. A Northwestern University study found:
Most students clicked on the first search result no matter what it was, and more than a quarter of respondents said explicitly that they chose it because it was the first result. 'In some cases, the respondent regarded the search engine as the relevant entity for which to evaluate trustworthiness, rather than the Web site that contained the information,' wrote researchers.
It seems to be the case that people trust Google/Bing/Yahoo! and therefore trust the results these companies give them, without question.
The paper quoted numerous students professing their particular love for Google, or talking about how Microsoft's search services are credible because Microsoft is a "more professional" company—basically, search engine brands meant a lot to the students using them, and those students seem to place credibility on the automated search rankings provided by those services.
Neil Petty
RPPL
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