In May 2006 McAfee Siteadvisor released a search engine study comparing the safety of leading search engine results (SERPs). A new report just released on December 11, 2006, updates the May study with new data and deeper analysis of the specific types of threats posed by SERPs. The five search engines included in these findings were: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL & Ask.com.
Search Results % of Red and Yellow Sites as reported by McAfee Siteadvisor
It’s very interesting to note that, on average, 4.4% of all search results from both paid and organic placements on these engines link to risky Web sites. These five search engines comprise of 91% of all search engine use in the United States, and 80% of site page visits originate from search engines!
That’s a pretty staggering statistic and one that would suggest that the major gateways to the web would take a stronger stance on serving up risky web pages. I guess the big question is are they or are they not doing all they can to protect users from spyware installs, sites that exhibit poor e-mail practices and scam sites? Here’s a quote from the study that may surprise you and make you wonder: “search engines earn approximately $1.28 billion annually from their U.S. operations by sending users to risky sites.” Yikes!
Take quick look below at the key findings from this study. If you’re interested in reading the whole report there is a link to it below:
- In the United States, the top five search engines all include some dangerous results.
- AOL returns the safest results with 3.6% of results rated red or yellow by McAfee SiteAdvisor. At 5.1%, Yahoo! returns the most results rated red or yellow. On average, 4.4% of search results link to risky Web sites.
- 8% of sponsored results are rated red or yellow - almost three times the percentage of red and yellow sites found in organic results. Scam sites are found at a much greater frequency in sponsored results.
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1Dave Brough on Jan 6, 2007 at 11:01 am:
I am wondering where I could find information on how much search share each engine has? This would weight the results for “searches” turning up red or yellow sites.
2Gary M on Jan 8, 2007 at 10:54 am:
Hi Dave. I googled ‘US search engine market share’ and this came up no. 1: http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156431
Also, the article about the study has some good info you can check out if you haven’t already: http://www.siteadvisor.com/studies/search_safety_dec2006
3Kathy on Jan 11, 2007 at 6:18 am:
Have to admit I was somewhat surprised that AOL returned the safest results, the way they seem to get badmouthed quite a bit. Bit disheartening to say the least about the major search engines doing this considering they seem to set high standards for what is acceptable for search campaigns for pay per click according to comments I’ve read by people. Maybe they should spend a little more time being selective in regards to these scam sites. Guess like a lot of things in life though….when it comes to money, a lot of things can be overlooked. Very interesting post.