Die Macht der Suchmaschinen und ihr Einfluss auf unsere Entscheidungen.

Information seeking in search engines can be regarded as a sequence of decisions a user needs to make to fulfil his information need. As search engines are the most-used service on the Internet, their importance cannot be underestimated. The power of search engines results from search engine providers' decisions on what users get to see on the results pages, including decisions on the results' positions and their display. There are many steps within the searching process where the design of the search engine can influence a user's decision for or against a certain result. Taken together with external influences of search results (e.g., through search engine optimization), users are guided towards certain results and results types, as well. This article considers the influence the design of search engines and the (assumed) intent of the search engine providers have on users' decisions within the searching process. Possible solutions for gaining more influence on the users' side are shown, but also their limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]