Ofcom studies how kids think search results are ranked

Results of a recent Ofcom study in the UK found that around one-third of British school children believe Google ranks search results based on how true the source is.

by Helen Leggatt

The UK regulatory agency Ofcom has released its 2009 Interim report on UK children's media literacy. Part of the report focuses on children's perception of how search results are ranked.

While 37% believe Google ranks search results depending on how useful or relevant it is, 32% believe the most truthful results are shown at the top of the results.

Fourteen-percent thought that companies paid for their listings to appear at the top of search engine results pages.

Interestingly, significantly more children said they didn't know how search results were ranked than they did last year - 4% vs. 18%.

The 46-page interim report (.pdf), available free online, looks in detail at the media literacy of British children aged 5-15 and their parents/carers.

Tags: British, children, Google, media literacy, Ofcom, research, search engine, search marketing, search results, SERPS