tedster - 8:54 pm on Jan 11, 2010 (gmt 0)

I've done a few studies on the topic (but they're not published). I found that a description which offers a good "information scent" to the user will often outperform a "click here to find..." call-to-action style of description.

My sense is that the call to action style is pretty old school and it's too close to offline marketing for many search users. I think it often gets tuned out - sort of an analog to banner blindness.