Characteristics of the Boolean web search query: estimating success from characteristics

Popular web search engines use Boolean queries as their main interface for users to search their information needs. The paper presents results a user survey employing volunteer web searchers to determine the effectiveness of the Boolean queries in meeting the information needs. A metric for measuring the quality of a web search query is presented. This enables us to relate attributes of the search session and the Boolean query with its success. Certain easily identified characteristics of a good web search query are identified.