What Difference Does Language Make? A comparison of search results based on the language of the user query and the browser

Abstract

In today’s world, the majority of internet users are no longer English-speaking. What does the internet experience hold for speakers of other languages? Can they search for and find resources as easily as their English-speaking counterparts in the U.S.? This study provides a comparison of 186 standardized searches conducted by 18 subjects in 14 different languages. Search tasks were selected based on different models of information need, including known fact, known item, and subject searches. Quantitative data was collected and tabulated in the form of precision and mean average precision by language and by search. Qualitative comments were also collected from the participants and used to analyze and understand the quality of the search results returned as well as how relevant results differed in content. The overall search experience was also analyzed. Browser language and the language of the Google search site were also taken into consideration as factors that can affect the quality of the search results and decrease interference from wrong-language results.