The aim of this study is to examine whether search engine marketing may influence consumers’ brand awareness in terms of brand recall and brand recognition. The theoretical background derives from the definition and rationale of brand awareness. The study is further based on a theoretical outline of search engine marketing and its components. Furthermore, the Hierarchy of Effects Model is used in order to describe the steps a company may influence consumers in their purchase process. In order to capture consumers’ reasoning and behaviour in the search engine context, a two-way study approach was conducted. Firstly, by letting ten participants conduct a log related to their search engine behaviour, spanning for a period of ten days. Secondly, by conducting semi-structured interviews, using their logs as a base for further discussions. Results from this study show that search engine marketing can have an effect on consumers’ brand awareness by creating initial awareness or by building upon existing awareness. Secondly, in the context of unknown brands, the results show that it had a particular strong effect on brand recognition among the participants. Thirdly, it appeared that SEM can work as a gateway for brands and an enabler for building a brand attitude amongst its potential customers. Lastly, the website experience is a crucial step for brands in order to positively influence consumers in their purchase process.

Tikslas Išanalizavus internetinių puslapių antraštės struktūrą ištirti juose naudojamų metaduomenų įtaką indeksavimui. Tyrimo objektas Internetiniame puslapyje aprašoma antraštė, jos metaduomenys. Problema Randama daug literatūros ir straipsnių apie metaduomenų panaudojimą bei reikšmę internetinių puslapių kūrimui bei žiniatinklio indeksavimui, tačiau sutinkama skirtingų nuomonių šiuo klausimu, vieni teigia, kad mataduomenys turi mažai įtakos žiniatinklio indeksavimui, kiti teigia priešingai. Deja, visa medžiaga apie metaduomenų įtaką pateikiama tik teorinė, o realių pavyzdžių beveik nėra, todėl atlikus tyrimą įsitikinama metažymių naudingumu ir suformuluojamas taisyklingas antraštės aprašymas. Tyrimo metodologija Teoriniai tyrimo metodai: paieškos variklio veikimo apžvalga, paieškos variklių optimizavimą įtakojančių faktorių apžvalga, metažymių aprašymo ir panaudojimo analizė. Praktiniai tyrimo metodai: internetinio puslapio antraštės analizavimas, antraštėje talpinamų duomenų apie metažymes surinkimas, metažymėse aprašomų raktažodžių reikšmių surinkimas, paieškos rezultatų pagal raktažodžius ir puslapio pavadinimą stebėjimas. Naudotos priemonės „Mozila Firefox“ 3.5.9 – žiniatinklio naršyklė „Macromedia Dreamweaver“ 8.0 – internetinių puslapių kūrimo programa. Tyrimo apimtis Indeksavimo našumas palygintas taikant paieškos užklausų pateikimą keliems paieškos varikliams tuo pačiu metu. Tyrimo eksperimentas apima šiuos realizacijos atvejus: paieškos užklausos pagal raktažodžių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The purpose of this bachelor’s paper is to carry out deep research on web indexing which depends from headings. The reason why have been decided to do this research were the numerous information about methods, which increases the better way of web indexing, however, there is no information on practical examples. Very important is high page rank in search engine, because it is main way to the success and popularity. There is possibility to increase page rank by integration of metatags into the page’s headings, however, literature sources gives different articles about metatags operation and their influence to the web indexing, this is the reason which stimulated to research, its proves how the search engine assess heading’s metadata. The research has been made by three search’s engines. The main research object is described in internet’s page headings and its metadata. The theoretical part which has been analysed includes information about operations in search engine, and about the main search engine’s optimization factors, in the internet’s pages heading have been used metatags structure and the value. The research have been done by analysing heading structure and in the heading have been used metadata, where had been investigated the keyword use of metatag and title tag’s influence to the web indexing. The work produced rightful example of headings how should be filled, and recommendations to improve the web indexing. The research which has been... [to full text]

Sigma IT Consulting in Växjö gave the authors of this paper a task to change the search engine in one of their projects. To get a scientific view of the project the authors specified two research questions that could be connected to Sigma's problem. This problem is interesting to investigate since search engines are frequently used all over the world and often more user-friendly than classic menu navigation. To find a solution to the problem two experiments were conducted. The result from the experiments showed that the search engine EPiServer Find were, ever so slightly, outperformed Elasticsearch in the terms of relevance. The response time, however, had no significant difference.

Background: Dabbing is an emerging method of marijuana ingestion. However, little is known about dabbing owing to limited surveillance data on dabbing. Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze Google search data to assess the scope and breadth of information seeking on dabbing. Methods: Google Trends data about dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], also known as e-cigarettes) in the United States between January 2004 and December 2015 were collected by using relevant search terms such as "dab rig." The correlation between dabbing (including topics: dab and hash oil) and ENDS (including topics: vaping and e-cigarette) searches, the regional distribution of dabbing searches, and the impact of cannabis legalization policies on geographical location in 2015 were analyzed. Results: Searches regarding dabbing increased in the United States over time, with 1,526,280 estimated searches during 2015. Searches for dab and vaping have very similar temporal patterns, where the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is .992 (P<.001). Similar phenomena were also obtained in searches for hash oil and e-cigarette, in which the corresponding PCC is .931 (P<.001). Dabbing information was searched more in some western states than other regions. The average dabbing searches were significantly higher in the states with medical and recreational marijuana legalization than in the states with only medical marijuana legalization (P=.02) or the states without medical and recreational marijuana legalization (P=.01). Conclusions: Public interest in dabbing is increasing in the United States. There are close associations between dabbing and ENDS searches. The findings suggest greater popularity of dabs in the states that legalized medical and recreational marijuana use. This study proposes a novel and timely way of cannabis surveillance, and these findings can help enhance the understanding of the popularity of dabbing and provide insights for future research and informed policy making on dabbing.

This thesis examines the applicability of Google Econometrics - the use of search volume data of particular queries as explanatory variables in time se- ries modeling - in the case of the Czech Republic. We analyze the contribu- tion of Google data by comparing out-of-sample nowcasting performance and in-sample fit with control variables in three related areas: using an auto- regressive model for unemployment, vector autoregression and logit models for GDP and household consumption, and Granger causality test for consum- er confidence. The improvement in quality of unemployment nowcasting is modest but statistically significant; sentiment index based on Google queries shows reciprocal relationship with the official Consumer Confidence Indicator, and it also provides superior nowcasts for household consumption as well as in- sample fit in logit models; its performance in GDP nowcasting is average among control variables. In overall, the results suggest that Google Econometrics is applicable also to the Czech Republic, despite the fact that the internet penetration rate and Google popularity was lower over the analyzed period compared with developed economies where these methods were usually tested. In the future, Google data may be used together with other leading and coincident indica- tors to...

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Daniel A. Andresen / In this project I have built a web application "Recipe Search Engine Using Yummly API". This application is central information hub for the kitchen--connecting consumers with recipe ideas, ingredient lists, and cooking instructions. It will serve best for the people who uses digital tools to plan their cooking, these days almost everyone does. The various features available for users in this application are as following. Users can search for their favorite dishes. The search results contain information about ingredients list, total time needed for cooking, user's rating and cooking directions. Basic search filters are provided to filter out the search results like Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner recipes. The order of displayed results can be sorted according to ratings, total time required to prepare the dish. User can create an account and build their own favorite recipe collection by liking the recipes displayed. The liked recipes are stored into user’s account and user can view, add and delete those recipes anytime from his recipe collection. Users can use their social networking platform Facebook account credentials to log into this application or create a new account in this application. The application will communicate with the Yummly API to consume data from it. The Yummly API is largest recipe information aggregator with over one million recipes data.

The aim of this work is the analysis of current practices and techniques of Internet marketing. The work is divided into two parts. The theoretical part presents the current internet marketing tools, the optimal utilization is reflected in the practical part, which is carried out a comprehensive plan for internet marketing strategy with emphasis on SEO for start-up company in the field of accommodation and hospitable service. This is a company Penzion U Lišky, which offers accommodation in Southern Bohemia. The work will serve as a guide for small and medium organizations in the development of marketing projects. The practical part of the evidence considered in developing websites and methods to optimize site for search engines. The next section provides recommendations for use of PPC campaigns and presentation of the company's social networking site Facebook. The analysis methods for increasing traffic through social networking, PR articles, blogging and other tools.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a relationship between search engine users advertising awareness and attitude towards organic- and/or paid search results. Hypothesis: H1: The attitude toward Google´s paid search results is significantly more negative for search engine users who successfully identify more than 75% of Google´s paid search results on the results page compared to search engine users who successfully identified less than 75% of Google´s paid search results on the search results page. H2: The attitude toward Google´s organic search results is significantly more negative for search engine users who successfully identify more than 75% of Google´s paid search results on the search results page compared to search engine users who successfully identified less than 75% of Google´s paid search results on the search results page. Methodology: The study is based on the positivist research paradigm and has a quantitative research method and a deductive approach. The research design is a cross- sectional study and a survey has been chosen as a data collection method. The data analysis was completed using the computer program IBM SPSS. Results: The results show that there is no relationship between the search engine user´s attitude towards Google´s paid search results and the search engine user´s ad awareness, which means that the null hypothesis 1 cannot be rejected. The results also show that search engine user´s attitude towards Google´s organic search results is significantly more positive for search engine users who identified more than 75% of Google´s paid search results on the search results page as compared to search engine user´s successfully identified less than 75% of Google´s paid search results on the search results page, meaning, the null hypothesis 2 cannot be rejected. Contributions: The theoretical contribution is related to persuasion knowledge model (PKM) and shows that (1) search engine user´s activation of persuasion knowledge does not necessarily create a more negative attitude towards paid search results. (2) Search engine user´s activation of persuasion knowledge creates a more positive attitude towards organic search results. The practical contribution is given to Google and is based on the fact that (1) Google can clarify its ad disclosure without the risk of search engine users creating more negative attitude towards paid search results. (2) Google can clarify the ad disclosure, which will lead to more positive attitude towards organic search results for search engine users. / Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan sökmotoranvändares annonsmedvetenhet och attityd mot organiska- och/eller betalda sökresultat. Hypoteser: H1: Attityden mot Googles betalda sökresultat är signifikant mer negativ för sökmotoranvändare som identifierar mer än 75% av Googles betalda sökresultat på sökresultatsidan i jämförelse med sökmotoranvändare som lyckas identifiera mindre än 75% av Googles betalda sökresultat på sökresultatsidan. H2: Attityden mot Googles organiska sökresultat är signifikant mer negativ för sökmotoranvändare som identifierar mer än 75% av Googles betalda sökresultat på sökresultatsidan i jämförelse med sökmotoranvändare som lyckas identifiera mindre än 75% av Googles betalda sökresultat på sökresultatsidan. Metod: Studien grundar sig på det positivistiska forskningsparadigmet och har en kvantitativ forskningsmetod och en deduktiv ansats. Forskningsdesignen är tvärsnittsstudie och enkät har valts som insamlingsmetod. Dataanalysen är gjord med hjälp av dataprogrammet IBM SPSS. Resultat: Resultatet visar att det inte finns något samband mellan sökmotoranvändares attityd mot Googles betalda sökresultat och sökmotoranvändares annonsmedvetenhet vilket innebär att nollhypotes 1 inte kan förkastas. Resultatet visar även att sökmotoranvändares attityd mot Googles organiska sökresultat är signifikant mer positiv för sökmotoranvändare som identifierar mer än 75% av Googles betalda sökresultat på sökresultatsidan i jämförelse med sökmotoranvändare som lyckas identifiera mindre än 75% av Googles betalda sökresultat på sökresultatsidan vilket innebär att nollhypotes 2 inte förkastas. Studiens bidrag: Det teoretiska bidraget är relaterat till persuasion knowledge model (PKM) och visar att (1) sökmotoranvändares aktivering av persuasion knowledge inte nödvändigtvis skapar en mer negativ attityd mot betalda sökresultat. (2) Sökmotoranvändares aktivering av persuasion knowledge skapar en mer positiv attityd mot organiska sökresultat. Det praktiska bidraget ges till Google och bygger på att (1) Google kan tydliggöra sin annonsmärkning utan risk att sökmotoranvändarna får en mer negativ attityd mot Googles betalda sökresultat. (2) Google kan tydliggöra annonsmärkningen vilket kommer leda till att sökmotoranvändarna får en mer positiv attityd mot Googles organiska sökresultat.

This report has conducted a research of comparing a few open source search engines. The research contains two evaluation processes, the first evaluation will evaluate each open source search engine found on today’s market. Points will be given between one to five points depending on how well the open source search engine meets the requirements. The open source search engine with the highest score will then be chosen for implementation. The first evaluation resulted in Elasticsearch being the selected open source search engine and will continue to the implementation phase. The second evaluation will be measuring the system performance and the relevance of the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages). This phase will evaluate the system performance by taking time measurements on how long it takes for the search engines to deliver the SERP. The relevance of the search results will be judge by a group of CSN employers. The group will be giving point be-tween one to five points depending on the relevance of the SERP. It will eval-uate Elasticsearch with the search engine CSN are using today on their web-site (www.csn.se). This phase resulted in Elasticsearch being the better in performance measurements but not in the relevance of the SERP. This was discussed and came to the conclusion that most points were lost because of the first search result Elasticsearch delivered. If this search result was re-moved Elasticsearch could deliver as good results as the old search engine. The survey came to the conclusion that Elasticsearch is recommended for CSN if certain problem areas could be corrected before implementation into their systems.

Usage of search is very popular among all kinds of people to locate unknown information in websites. Mainstream search engines like Google work really hard to deliver a simple and effective search experience with the help of professionals and usability lab testing. Search interfaces often show a poor usability for the users who want to find information in differentknowledge organizations website. The purpose of this research is to create an understanding for some important characteristics of search interfaces, characteristics that may enhance the usability of knowledge organization search interface design. This Paper aim is to identify and discuss the specialized search interface design for knowledge organizations. This paper provides the detailed information about the search interface design and its improvement. This study gives the specialized wireframe standards for improving knowledge organization search interface design. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik