[ilammy]

> Why does every web site default to aggressively paginate their information?

You get to see more ads while flipping through pages.

Timing metrics for loading smaller pages make marketing happy.

Timing metrics for time spent on the website make marketing happy.

[andy800]

Perhaps, for content-based sites. Not if you're a financial institution and visitors to your site are likely looking to find a specific transaction. Not if you are an insurance provider and visitors are trying to find a service provider. If you are a retailer selling stuff, you don't want browsers, you want buyers. I will concede that Amazon does pretty well and they paginate product listings, but I think they use a lot more intelligence to deliver high-value results than typical retailers, including very large ones.