This text is about the illusion of information. Don’t read this if you want to stay in an illusion.
Why a search result could be deceiving
Let’s say Rob wanted to go on vacation.
Now let’s construct a strange situation: this guy had only heard of diving his entire life.
So he searches the internet for diving vacations and finds 10 destinations to match – diving.
Did he gain knowledge with it?
No.
He has confirmed his previous view of his world.
He completed his earlier assumptions and with it his expectations.
From an SEO perspective, the job appears to be done.
Online marketers are happy with the search engine. The search engine manufacturers are selling more ads.
The user remains uninformed. Uninformed in the sense of a lack of new facts. No new fact about life on earth manifests itself in his private cosmos.
From the perspective of optimizing results, a search result for diving vacations with topics such as mountaineering and meditation in the desert should be completed.
The search intent was diving. The user intention was recreation. For this reason, search intent and user intent differ from one another in many cases.
Let’s apply this trivial-looking example (diving) to searching the web and in life.
Most people give up the search too soon. Because the search results are aimed at the end of the search – not the beginning of knowledge.