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New Survey Reports Users Don't Search Google Effectively, Costing 40+ Hours of Productivity Each Year

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 September 2008, 09:00 CDT

Boost eLearning, the pioneer in Google search training for organizations, today announced results of a new survey indicating 39 percent of all Google searches fail, leading to more than 40 hours - or one week - of lost productivity per user per year. The online survey found that respondents perform about 12 searches per day and, statistically, 4.7 of those searches do not obtain the desired results. Respondents also report that they spend an average of 30.8 minutes per day searching online. The reported amount of time lost on each search that does not deliver the desired result equates to 12 minutes per day - or 46 hours annually. In addition to lost productivity, a high search-failure rate also indicates that a user's current research results are likely incomplete, leading to missed opportunities, the value of which could far exceed any time lost.

"Google is an incredibly powerful and deceptively simple service, leading many training and learning professionals to assume that Google is 'plug-and-play' and requires no specific instruction," said Victor Alhadeff, CEO of Boost eLearning. "Yet according to real-world Google users, they are only finding the information they need about 60 percent of the time. With this in mind, it's critical that learning professionals understand how they can help employees increase their productivity and search accuracy by leveraging the full functionality of Google."

More than 233 million Google searches are conducted a day in the U.S., making the Google search engine one of the most powerful and ubiquitous resources available to information workers today. While Google is designed to provide users with accurate results quickly, only a fraction of today's Internet-powered employees fully utilize its built-in functionality. To help users take full advantage of Google, Boost eLearning has developed a single course of 20 online lessons that quickly and easily instill in workers the expanded range of search skills they need to dramatically increase the effectiveness of their queries. Based on proven adult learning principles, Boost eLearning's Google Search Training empowers users to become proficient in a wide array of search practices, including queries they did not know were possible.

Boost eLearning's training closes the Google-user training gap to provide organizations with a measurable ROI in increased productivity.

The survey results are based on 378 responses. Complete results can be obtained by contacting a Boost eLearning representative at info@boostelearning.com or 206-839-8573.

About Boost eLearning

Boost eLearning is a pioneer in tools that help training and development (T&D) professionals transform today's Internet-dependent workforce into savvy consumers of knowledge. Boost eLearning Google Search Training quickly teaches an organization's workers how to command faster, more accurate results from the Google search bar. Leveraging the fundamentals of adult-learning theory, Boost eLearning Google Search Training instills in workers the repertory of search skills required to extract and harness targeted information by performing queries they never knew were possible. To learn more about how Boost eLearning is empowering individuals to turn the Web's expansive body of free intelligence into actionable information, visit www.boostelearning.com.

NOTE: Boost eLearning is a trademark of Boost eLearning, LLC. All other registered or unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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