Parallel browsing behavior on the web

Parallel browsing describes a behavior where users visit Web pages in multiple concurrent threads. Web browsers explicitly support this by providing tabs. Although parallel browsing is more prevalent than linear browsing online, little is known about how users perform this activity. We study the use of parallel browsing through a log-based study of millions of Web users and present findings on their behavior. We identify a power law distribution in browser metrics comprising "outclicks" and tab switches, which signify the degree of parallel browsing. We find that users switch tabs at least 57.4% of the time, but user activity, measured in pageviews, is split among tabs rather than increasing overall activity. Finally, analysis of a subset of the logs focused on Web search shows that while the majority of users do not branch from search engine result pages, the degree of branching is higher for non-navigational queries. Our findings have design implications for Web sites and browsers, search interfaces, and log analysis.