Three pillars for congenial web searching - continuous evaluation for enhancing web search effectiveness

Abstract. In the context of large homogeneous retrieval systems, metrics like precision and recall have been established to assess the effectiveness. Nevertheless, measuring Web search effectiveness is a new challenge regarding the heterogeneity of highly dynamic Web content. Currently, users select a Web search engine by their individual preferences and the evaluation of effectiveness is a subjective measure defined by the user. Since there are different emphases for each single user, those user-defined measures cannot be quantified in a common way. On this account we propose a new Web system, where the effectiveness is continuously evaluated by explicit user feedback in terms of personalized ranking lists. This local rankings can be accumulated and evaluated according to different goals: accumulation leads to a wider base of ranked and validated results. Furthermore, the aggregate ranking lists can be used to identify topics as well as communities of interest. Together with social aspects for community support, a framework for congenial Web search is defined.