It’s always interesting to watch some of the broader trends in search engine referrals. One of the more recent, and certainly more interesting developments in search engine usage, has to be that less is the new more. At least that’s what Coremetrics is reporting when comparing early 2009 search data with later results.

2009 U.S. Clicks by Number of Keywords

Use of one-word phrases has increased nearly 16% from Jan. 2009 to Oct. 2009. At first glance, this development would certainly lend credibility to those that contend the long tail of search is in full wain. But it really could be more a reflection in the change is searcher behavior moreover a paradigm shift away from the longtail of search.

For example, think about how we search for brands. Do we Google it to go to the site or do we type the full URL in our browsers? Since Google has focused on producing more relevant branded results in 2009, perhaps the data is a reflection of browser laziness rather than a shift away from using three+ words in a search query. Perhaps the
Coremetrics data has been influenced by iPhone usage for search. After all, who wants to type in all those phrases on a mobile search engine. Of course, it could just be that we’re using the search engines rather than bookmarks to return to the same site time and time again.

2009 Clicks by Number of Keywords Data

It’s important to note that the Coremetrics data is specific to clicks on search results as it relates to the number of words used in successful search queries. Also, I don’t know how suggested search results may have impacted the data. Does a one word query supplemented by search engine suggestion affect the data in any way? Either way, this remains and interesting data set to watch as it evolves over time.

Active listening is a method of paying attention and responding to another person, which improves each person’s mutual understanding of the conversation at hand. Often, when people talk to each other, they don’t really listen attentively to what the other person is saying. They’re often distracted — half listening and half thinking about something else.

Yet, when people are actively engaged in a conversation, they’re frequently responsive to what is being said. Active listening is a structured form of listening and responding, that inherently focuses the attention on the speaker. The listener must take care to attend to the speaker fully, and often must repeat, in the listener’s own words, what she thinks the speaker has said.

This is exactly what happens when someone retweets someone else’s tweet. The listener doesn’t have to agree with the speaker — she simply restates what they think the speaker said — in 140 characters or less. [Read] The Art of Active Listening