Google Search is a popular tool for acquiring information online, but little is known about children's trust in search engines. Across two studies conducted in 2021-2024, 240 4- to 8-year-old children (122 boys, 118 girls; 75% White; 92% non-Hispanic) were asked whether they trusted Google and a teacher to answer questions about stable information (e.g., geographical locations) and changing information (e.g., the weather). With increasing age, children endorsed Google at higher rates and the teacher at lower rates. When asked about the Internet and an unfamiliar search engine, children endorsed Google and the Internet more often than an unfamiliar search engine. Children's intuitions about search engines changed with development, with younger children relying more on familiarity as a cue to trust.
Keywords: preschool age children; search engines; trust.
In our increasingly digital world, children have more options for getting answers to their questions than ever before. We examined 4- to 8-year-old children's beliefs about one of these options, Google Search, by asking them how it compares to a human informant (a teacher), the Internet at large, or a new search engine. Children said that Google could answer more questions than a teacher could, and they often thought Google would give better answers than a teacher. Younger children also showed more trust in Google than the Internet or a new search engine, perhaps because it is more familiar to them, but older children trusted different kinds of search engines at similar rates, which may reflect their growing understanding of how search engines work.
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