NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. gained an additional 6 percentage points of the U.S. search market based on total queries, widening its lead last month against Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, according to data released on Tuesday. Google's share of the search market rose to 42.3 percent in February from 36.3 percent a year earlier, according to data provided by tracking firm ComScore. Searches on Yahoo Internet sites represented 27.6 percent of the market, down from 31.1 percent a year earlier, while queries on MSN fell to 13.5 percent from 16.3 percent. IAC/InterActiveCorp.'s Ask.com was the only other search engine to gain share, to 6 percent of the market from 5.3 percent a year earlier. Industry analysts picked up on the data, citing it as a strong sign for Google in its rivalry for advertising revenue. An overall 11 percent increase in total search queries for the month also bodes well for the sector, they said. "We expect Google's increased market share in search queries, and better monetization of queries to lead to increased share of ad dollars relative to its competitors" in the first half of 2006, Merrill Lynch analysts Justin Post and Lauren Rich Fine wrote in a research note on Tuesday. Merrill Lynch said Google also stood to gain in the coming months as its main competitors "struggle" to improve the technology and experience surrounding their search engines. Google could eventually capture a 70 percent market share, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan. "The question really comes down to how long it could take," Rohan wrote in a research report. He rates both Google and Yahoo shares at "outperform." At the same time, Rohan noted that market share data does not always correlate with the ability of companies like Google to generate revenue from Web searches. For example, Rohan noted that Google revenue rose 20 percent for the third quarter, even though the volume of searches on its site were down during the period. Google shares traded 1.4 percent higher on Tuesday at $374.77, Yahoo rose 1.5 percent to $31.93.
According to Comscore, February this year over last: Google rose to 42.3 percent, up from 36.3 percent Yahoo fell to 27.6 percent, from 31.1 percent MSN fell to 13.5 percent from 16.3 percent AOL fell to 8 percent from 8.9 percent. Ask.com rose to 6 percent from 5.3 percent Analysts are predicting that Google will reach 70%. Any thoughts on the matter?
Ask is definately going to get a bigger share if the marketing push here in the UK is being replicated elsewhere in the world. Dont think any of the other SEs are marketing using the TV in the UK. Ask' ads (on the TV) are quite cool....i think i might start using ask.com! (J/K) However def time to start working out strats for ask.com as one of my sites (though perfect for google!) is no where to be seen in Ask. Notting
This data is only for US. Most countries have Google more market share. In Europe Google has about 60% with some cases as for example UK (74%) or Spain (88%)...
At least in US you have more choices: In Europe Google has about 60% with some cases as for example UK (74%) or Spain (88%)...
"At least in US you have more choices" ???... sorry what do you mean ? search engines are web based...so by definition international.. so what choice is available in the US is available in Europe. If the vast majority of people use google as opposed to other search engines... then that's hardly google's fault.
No, for the UK, yes, but for non-english countries I would say is not that easy. Search engines uses geo data to give you results. What wold happen if you make a search at Google and only get jappanish websites? No, Google also is delivering the better he can, but for non-english countries the local versions are not very good.
70% for Google? Even more important to follow their rules. Not sure if that is really good though. 70% would remove a lot of freedom and choice for anyone working on the Internet to make a living. Christoph
I to fear Googles dominance on search - hopefully ASK can make some strong headways and eat into Googles market share - Yahoos new redesign does not look like it will be contributing much to their share - possibly it was a knee jerk reaction to the news that they lost share - any info on where AOL search is? People still using 56k modems? Rogue