Three sequential positions of query repair in interactions with internet search engines

Internet search engines display understanding or misunderstanding of user intent in and through the particular batches of results they retrieve and their perceived relevance. Yet understanding is not simply an automatic outcome but a joint interactional achievement between human and machine. If potential troubles with search queries emerge, either the user or the search engine may initiate repair on the query in ways that resemble repair in human conversation as described in conversation analysis. Users can repair their own queries in first or third position, while search engines can initiate repair from second position. However search-engine interactions currently contain no fourth-position repair. Finally search engines may also complete queries collaboratively with users in ways that are similar to but distinct from repair. In this study we examine interactions between users and search engines using a novel approach we call "computer interaction analysis," which utilizes eye-tracking screen video and a novel notation scheme for transcribing it.