It’s no secret that Google is the top dog in the realm of search. Perched atop the mountain, the company has yet to be knocked off of its perch, or even face any serious threat to its dominance in the industry. According to January’s figure, don’t look for that trend to change anytime soon.
First, let’s take a look at the numbers from Nielsen//NetRatings. According to the firm, an estimated 3.9 billion searches were conducted by Google alone in the month of January, a mark that represents 53.7 percent of the overall search share.
Yahoo remains solidly in second place with 22.7 percent share, and MSN/Live finds itself in its familiar third place position with 8.9 percent share.
Compete’s figures slightly differ, reflecting a 61.1 percent share (wow) for Google, 23.1 percent for Yahoo and 8.5 percent for MSN/Live.
Analyst Jeremy Crane at Compete offers more analysis of the figures:
So how did everyone fare in January? US consumers performed 6.3 billion search queries during the month. That averages out to roughly 36 searches per user. Among the big guys it seems we had more of the same. Google (GOOG) just keeps on climbing and everyone else just keeps on sinking. To be fair, Yahoo! (YHOO) search volumes were flat and MSN/Live (MSFT) actually gained a bit month-over-month. However, only Google was able to outpace the overall market which increased 2% from December.
The real discrepancy here lies in the fourth and fifth place rankings between the two metrics firms. Nielsen claims that AOL commands a 5.4 percent share, while Ask only tallies up 1.8 percent of the search pie. Compete, however, reflects a different tone with Ask holding 3.6 percent of the market while AOL only manages 1.7 percent share.
This observation only solidifies the cynicism associated with metrical analysis as consumers and industry pundits alike wonder exactly which figures to trust, and which to approach with skepticism.
Accuracy aside, however, everyone can agree that Google’s lead in the search industry continues to outpace the competition.
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