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Factors relating to the decision to click on a sponsored link

Authors:

Bernard J. Jansen,

Marc ResnickAuthors Info & Claims

Decision Support Systems, Volume 44, Issue 1

Pages 46 - 59

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2007.02.009

Published: 01 November 2007 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper, we report results of an investigation into the factors influencing the selection of sponsored links by e-commerce Web searchers. In this research, 56 participants each engaged in six e-commerce Web searching tasks. We mined these tasks from the transaction log of a major Web search engine, so the tasks represent real e-commerce searching information needs. Using 60 organic and 30 sponsored Web links retrieved by submitting these queries to the Google search engine, we controlled the quality of the Web search engine listings by switching non-sponsored and sponsored links on half of the tasks for each participant. This approach allowed for both investigating the bias toward sponsored links while controlling for quality of content. Data included 2453 interactions with result page links, 961 utterances evaluating these links, and 102 results from a post-study survey. The results of the data analysis indicate that there is a statistically significant preference for non-sponsored links with searchers viewing these results first more than 82% of the time. Searchers view sponsored links primarily as advertisements, appreciate these links if they are relevant, and are unconcerned if the search engines disclose them as sponsored links. The implications for sponsored links as a long-term business model are discussed.

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Cited By

Sahni NNair H(2020)Sponsorship Disclosure and Consumer DeceptionMarketing Science10.1287/mksc.2018.112539:1(5-32)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2018.1125
Schultz C(2020)Informational, transactional, and navigational need of information: relevance of search intention in search engine advertisingInformation Retrieval10.1007/s10791-019-09368-723:2(117-135)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10791-019-09368-7
Schultz C(2020)The impact of ad positioning in search engine advertising: a multifaceted decision problemElectronic Commerce Research10.1007/s10660-018-9313-z20:4(945-968)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10660-018-9313-z
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Index Terms

Factors relating to the decision to click on a sponsored link
1. Information systems
  1. Information retrieval
    1. Evaluation of retrieval results
  2. World Wide Web
    1. Online advertising
    2. Web applications
      1. Electronic commerce
2. Mathematics of computing
  1. Probability and statistics
    1. Statistical paradigms
      1. Statistical graphics

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Information & Contributors

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Published In

cover image Decision Support Systems

Decision Support Systems Volume 44, Issue 1

November, 2007

368 pages

ISSN:0167-9236

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © Elsevier B.V. © 2007.

Publisher

Elsevier Science Publishers B. V.

Netherlands

Publication History

Published: 01 November 2007

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Cited By

Sahni NNair H(2020)Sponsorship Disclosure and Consumer DeceptionMarketing Science10.1287/mksc.2018.112539:1(5-32)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2018.1125
Schultz C(2020)Informational, transactional, and navigational need of information: relevance of search intention in search engine advertisingInformation Retrieval10.1007/s10791-019-09368-723:2(117-135)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10791-019-09368-7
Schultz C(2020)The impact of ad positioning in search engine advertising: a multifaceted decision problemElectronic Commerce Research10.1007/s10660-018-9313-z20:4(945-968)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10660-018-9313-z
Sachse JAzzopardi LHalvey MRuthven IJoho HMurdock VQvarfordt P(2019)Do Metrics Matter?Proceedings of the 2019 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval10.1145/3295750.3298973(417-420)Online publication date: 8-Mar-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3295750.3298973
Gong JAbhishek VLi B(2018)Examining the impact of keyword ambiguity on search advertising performanceMIS Quarterly10.25300/MISQ/2018/1404242:3(805-830)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.25300/MISQ/2018/14042
Oosterhuis Hde Rijke MCollins-Thompson KMei QDavison BLiu YYilmaz E(2018)Ranking for Relevance and Display Preferences in Complex Presentation LayoutsThe 41st International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research & Development in Information Retrieval10.1145/3209978.3209992(845-854)Online publication date: 27-Jun-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3209978.3209992
Sendurur E(2018)Students as information consumersEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-018-9756-923:6(3007-3027)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10639-018-9756-9
Chesnes MDai WZhe Jin G(2017)Banning Foreign Pharmacies from Sponsored SearchMarketing Science10.1287/mksc.2017.105836:6(879-907)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.2017.1058
Lu YChau MChau P(2017)Are Sponsored Links Effective? Investigating the Impact of Trust in Search Engine AdvertisingACM Transactions on Management Information Systems10.1145/30233657:4(1-33)Online publication date: 18-Jan-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3023365
Jafarzadeh HAurum AD'Ambra JGhapanchi A(2015)Analysing search engine advertising researchInternational Journal of Information Systems and Change Management10.1504/IJISCM.2015.0756417:4(308-337)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1504/IJISCM.2015.075641
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