If this were anywhere other than the Land of the Free we could take bets on how long it takes Google to grab 75 percent of the search market. What are we lookin’ at here, December? What are the odds Google grabs 80 percent by next August? Wait before you wager, there are new numbers in.
Looking at Hitwise’s latest numbers from the month of August, Google.com takes its place on the chart like a kind of vortex, gradually sucking market share from everybody else on the chart. For every gain along Google’s timeline, you can see a corresponding reversal at rivals Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.
The magic number for August? you ask impatiently. Okay: 71.01 percent. Google’s share of the search market is up from 70.77 percent in July, up from 63.98 percent in August 2007, an eleven percent year-over-year increase.
Everybody else has a progression of numbers that looks like my 401(k). Yahoo pulled in 18.26 percent of US searchers, down from 18.65 percent in July, down from 22.87 percent last year. MSN: 5.32 percent, down from 5.36 percent, down from 6.53 percent. Ask: 3.45 percent, down from 3.53 percent, wait, up from 3.49 percent last year.
Would you consider that last one statistically insignificant? Well, yeah, probably yeah.
Ever-increasing numbers likely won’t help Google’s case with the DOJ after non-Microsoft complaints came in regarding antitrust concerns stemming from Google’s deal with Yahoo to serve search ads across the Yahoo network. While Google appears to have the search market cornered (Hitwise’s numbers are generally give more share to Google than other firms like comScore and Nielsen), the whole online advertising market is a much different story.
