Eyetracking in Online Search

The Web introduces both new opportunities and challenges for eyetracking research. While eyetracking is still a relatively new analysis tool for studying online human-computer interaction, effective methods for analysis have already emerged. Researchers have used eyetracking to answer a number interesting questions, including online viewing of ads, web homepages, and search results. In web search, eyetracking analysis has illuminated what people decide to look at, how they navigate search results, and what aspects of search pages are the most important for finding information online. Techniques are now available to quantify, compare, and aggregate eye movements relative to these online environments. Unfortunately, while readily available, general eyetracking analysis software has not kept pace with all of the analysis techniques used by researchers. There are certainly obstacles to using eyetracking in online contexts, but tangible results have demonstrated its value and the need for further research.

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