Abstract
Web queries in question format are becoming a common
element of a user's interaction with Web search
engines. Web search services such as Ask Jeeves . a
publicly accessible question and answer (Q&A) search
engine . request users to enter question format
queries. This paper provides results from a study
examining queries in question format submitted to two
different Web search engines -- Ask Jeeves that
explicitly encourages queries in question format and
the Excite search service that does not explicitly
encourage queries in question format. We identify the
characteristics of queries in question format in two
different data sets: (1) 30,000 Ask Jeeves queries and
(2) 15,575 Excite queries, including the nature,
length, and structure of queries in question format.
Findings include: (1) 50\% of Ask Jeeves queries and
less than 1\% of Excite were in question format, (2)
most users entered only one query in question format
with little query reformulation, (3) limited range of
formats for queries in question format . mainly
"where", "what", or "how" questions, (4)
most common question query format was "Where can I
find........." for general information on a topic,
and (5) non-question queries may be in request format.
Overall, four types of user Web queries were
identified: keyword, Boolean, question, and request.
These findings provide an initial mapping of the
structure and content of queries in question and
request format. Implications for Web search services
are discussed.
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