The hits just keep on coming for search Google who is quite possibly becoming one of the most popular names in the open market today… at least it appears that way when you inspect the available data.
For instance, with the official launch of Google Earth coming late last night/early this morning, Google put themselves at the center of the Internet’s attention, and just in time for the accolades to come pouring in, apparently.
Google’s latest batch of good fortune actually started earlier in the day when it was announced that their stock prices had eclipsed the $300 mark at the close of business yesterday. GOOG stock is currently at $306.91 a share and climbing. Then came the highly anticipated launch of Google Earth, which does not disappoint and it’s actually free.
Now comes news stemming from a WebSideStory study that has Google solidifying its position as the number one search engine referrer, while MSN and Yahoo continue to lose ground. According to WebSideStory’s study, Google is still the top search referrer presence, but now they’ve also garnered over 50 percent of the search referral traffic, giving Google an all-time high of 52.2 percent.
Not only does Google provide over half of the search engine traffic, their percentage of referrals more than doubles the amount of the closest competitor, which goes to Yahoo’s search engine with 25.2 percent. The third position went to MSN Search, who is only responsible for 10.37 percent of the search engine traffic received.
Apparently, German residents love Google as well. WebSideStory indicates over 90 percent of the country’s search engine referrals originate from Google. Japan is one of the only countries measured during the study that did not have Google in top position when it comes to referring search engine traffic.
The study also reveals Google’s breaking of the 50 percent barrier concludes a four-year rise of astronomical proportions.
Jeff Lunsford, CEO of WebSideStory, offered his thoughts about his company’s study:
“WebSideStory tracks multiple online visitor acquisition sources for more than 700 businesses, including some of the biggest brands in the world. Google has become a staple for any serious online marketing operation and this data shows why: They generate more than half of all online search referrals in the U.S. and as much as 90 percent in other countries. Google’s early decision to focus on quality of search results has clearly paid off.”
The numbers provided by WebSideStory’s survey reveal just how tight Google’s grip on the search engine industry is. And if they are any indication of the future, it certainly appears as if it will only increase. When you apply WSW’s data to Steve Ballmer’s boasts about MSN Search catching Google, relevancy-wise, in 6 months, it makes you wonder if anyone is actually going to be there to notice whether or not MSN is true to their word.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
