Characterizations of User Web Revisit Behavior

Abstract

In this article we update and extend on earlier long-term studies on user’s page revisit behavior. Revisits are very common in web navigation, but not as predominant as reported in earlier studies. Backtracking is the most common type of page revisitation and is both used for finding new information and relocating information visited before. Search engines are mainly used for finding new information and users frequently backtrack to result pages. Visits to pages already visited in earlier sessions tend to occur in chunks, but it is not straightforward to create a list of most likely pages that will be revisited. We conclude with a short discussion on design implications for user-adaptive revisitation support.