End user searching: A Web log analysis of NAVER, a Korean Web search engine

Transaction logs of NAVER, a major Korean Web search engine, were analyzed to track the information-seeking behavior of Korean Web users. These transaction logs include more than 40 million queries collected over 1 week. This study examines current transaction log analysis methodologies and proposes a method for log cleaning, session definition, and query classification. A term definition method which is necessary for Korean transaction log analysis is also discussed. The results of this study show that users behave in a simple way: they type in short queries with a few query terms, seldom use advanced features, and view few results' pages. Users also behave in a passive way: they seldom change search environments set by the system. It is of interest that users tend to change their queries totally rather than adding or deleting terms to modify the previous queries. The results of this study might contribute to the development of more efficient and effective Web search engines and services.