time tunnel

Noun phrase. In Web analytics, a time tunnel is a users attempt to recreate a search path leading to a nearly-forgotten but recognizable destination. Searchers may use time tunnels in both general Web search and site search. Ecommerce Websites with large inventories of similar products are more likely to experience time tunnels than other types of Websites. Large news and information archives (including blogs with hundreds or thousands of posts) may also experience time tunnels. Cf. Hidden door, Time portal.