Indiantelevision.com Team

(26 May 2006 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Google accounted for 50 per cent of all searches conducted in April in the US, followed by Yahoo! and MSN, with 22 and 11 per cent, respectively according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

Year over year, Google gained three percentage points in market share, while Yahoo! remained flat and MSN dipped slightly.

"Google has passed a significant milestone in April, garnering half of the searches in the US. We can continue to expect new features, improved functionality and reward programs from the top search providers as they compete to win consumers' loyalty. There is also opportunity for smaller providers to fulfill targeted search needs," said Nielsen//NetRatings vice president search industry solutions Michael Lanz.

The top two search engines showed robust growth over the past year. Google Search grew 34 per cent year over year, followed by Yahoo! Search with 27 per cent growth. MSN Search rounded out the top three, growing 10 per cent year over year.

Traditional brick and mortar stores benefit from shopping search

Consumers are increasingly connecting with major retail stores via search engines, underscoring the influence search can have on online and offline buying. This is particularly evident in the top five shopping keywords, all of which are brick and mortar stores.

"As the top shopping search terms indicate, people are now using search to connect with trusted brick and mortar stores, often those that started as traditional offline marketplaces. These companies have each built a strong Web presence designed to encourage consumers to buy immediately online, or give them the tools they need to do preliminary research before making an in-store purchase," said Lanz.