Will AOL data "leak" make people less willing to search?

Now that people know search can identify them, will they be more cautious?

[MatthewHSE]

We all know that the searches we do can identify us - that's nothing new to anyone who knows how the web works. But most people I know don't even realize that search queries are logged, much less that they contain any data other than the query, or that the queries could identify them.

So with AOL's blunder this week and the publicity it's getting, will the average user stop searching so much? If so, what would be the implications? One possibility I thought of would be more type-in traffic to "obvious" domains.

[KenB]

Funny enough most of the sites I visit are normally either type in domains that I know (e.g. frequent) or went to via a link from a site I frequent. As a matter of course, I type in domains 10 times more often than I even use my bookmarks.

Okay, I'm a weird "webmaster" type so I'm not a good case study. ;)

I don't really see how people could reduce using search engines. Well except for the really obvious stuff like searching for "example.com" when one could simply type example.com into the address bar.

[Conard]

I don't see any change at all from this blunder.

Look at all of people here on this forum that should know better but still use toolbars and other data collection free services offered to us. It's like surfing with a SE rep sitting on your shoulder watching every page you look at which is a bit more that what you search for:-)

[D_Blackwell]

The average user doesn't know about this, wouldn't know what to make of it they did; nor have the time or the inclination to educate themselves anyway. To the average user a computer is merely a useful black box, and they remain fully at the not so tender mercy of SEOs/search sources/government.....