Longer Search Queries
Call this a followup. In February I asked if people are getting better at search: “In 2008 the average query length jumped from three to four words-per-search. Also, 25% of queries are unique to the last month (which seems like it would favor more specific searches).”
Well, looks like the trend is continuing. Hitwise reports that over 34% of search queries contain four-plus words and even better, eight-plus word queries are up 20% year-on-year (one-, two- and three-word queries all saw flat to declining growth year-on-year). Guess people are getting better at searching.