Princeton University

Search Engine Engagement Study

Informed consent for research participation

Key Information About the Study

Your informed consent is being sought for research. Participation in the research is voluntary.

In order to participate in this study:

• You must be at least 18 years old, located in the United States, and capable of providing consent.
• You must participate using the smartphone that you use most often. We will refer to this as your primary smartphone.
• You must participate using the web browser that you use most often on your primary smartphone. We will refer to this as your primary web browser.
• The primary web browser on your primary smartphone must be Safari. You must not be in private browsing mode to complete this survey.
• Your primary smartphone must be an iPhone running iOS 18.2 or later.
• You must use your primary web browser on your primary smartphone throughout your participation in the study.
• Your primary smartphone must be a personal device that only you use, that you do not share with others, and that is not provided by an employer.
• You must have been regularly using Safari on your primary smartphone, and retaining browser history, for at least the past 30 days.
• You must participate using the search engine that you use most often in your primary web browser. We will refer to this as your primary search engine.
• The primary search engine on your primary browser must be Google.
• You must have and be logged in to a Google account.
• You must not have the Google app installed on your device. If it is currently installed, please uninstall it for the duration of the study.

If you are currently using a device that is not your primary smartphone, or if you are using a web browser that is not your primary web browser on that device, please begin again with the required device and browser. If Google is not your primary search engine, please exit this study. If you do not own a Google account, please create one.

About the Study

The goal of this research is to understand how people are using search engines and how they search the web.

This stage of the study consists of three steps and typically takes about 20 minutes to complete.

Step 1. We will ask you to answer several survey questions about yourself and your use of search engines.

Step 2. We will ask you to install the browser extension on your primary web browser. We will provide directions for installing this extension. You must retain the browser extension for at least two weeks from today. In about two weeks, we will invite you to join a follow-up study on Prolific that will involve verifying that you continued with the browser extension for at least two weeks.

Step 3. We will ask you to provide information from Safari about how you use various web search engines and how you use the web overall. We will collect this information in a way where it cannot identify you, will not reveal the searches that you have made, and will not reveal the precise webpages that you have visited. We will also provide directions for completing this step.

At the conclusion of the study, we may ask you one or two final survey questions.

After completing this study, we may invite you to participate in a follow-up study on Prolific. The follow-up study will have a similar format.

Confidentiality

All records from this study will be kept confidential. We will not publish or otherwise share any information that would make it possible to identify you. We will not ask for your contact information, and we will only associate your study data with your Prolific ID. We will safeguard the data for this study with password protection and encryption.

Whom to Contact with Questions

You can reach the research team at: search-engine-engagement-study@lists.cs.princeton.edu

If you have questions regarding your rights as a research subject, or if problems arise which you do not feel you can discuss with the Investigator, please contact the Institutional Review Board at:

Summary

I understand the information that was presented and that:

• My participation is voluntary.
• Refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which I am otherwise entitled.
• I may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits.
• I do not waive any legal rights or release Princeton University or its agents from liability for negligence.