A new study from iProspect and JupiterResearch has some counterintuitive findings about how users search online.

While search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN have been working to offer more refined search capabilities, most users appear to prefer general searches.

A mere 17 percent of users who conducted news-specific searches ended up actually clicking on a result, according to the study. More than double the amount of users -- 36 percent -- clicked on news articles found through general searches.

Specific image searches faired a little better than news, with 26 percent of users clicking on a picture found via an image-specific search. Yet, 31 percent of users clicked on images found from a general search. As for video, 10 percent of users responded positively to specific queries, whereas 17 percent clicked from general searches.

According to the study, users have long had an "aversion to vertical search." The study also cited blended multimedia searches as a reason for lagging specific-search results.

Though it wasn't the aim of the study, the findings also highlight a big reason why Google has been able to maintain dominance in search. While Google offers an array of specific search options, it has been vigilant about keeping its homepage free of clutter, making it a prime destination for general queries.