Find solution
Why is Market Share so important?

Why the discrepancy in search engine market share results?

  • Every time i see statistics like http://searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156431 which list market share for various search engines, I'm somewhat surprised. According to the article/graph, in mid-2005, Google had a 36.5% market share in online searches, with Yahoo and MSN at 30.5% and 15%, respectively. But on every website I've managed for myself or others (and on the sites of everyone I've ever spoken to about this), Google consistently accounts for 80 - 90% of all their search referrals. So, what accounts for the discrepancy? Is it just because my evidence is anecdotal, or is there something special going on in which Yahoo/MSN searchers get sidetracked before ever reaching their search results? I understand that, for example, Yahoo! Sports searches count toward Yahoo's overall total, as explained in the article. But I would assume that would be evened out by the alternative searches Google provides as well (groups, froogle, print, news, etc). http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/06/21/0621automarketscan08.html claims Google has a 48% share, which is closer, but nowhere near 80% - 90%.

  • Answer:

    Of the few people I've known who used non-Google search engines, most were fairly casual web users who spent their time on a small number of very high-profile websites (CNN, New York Times) etc. I think a significant group of Internet users never go much behind major media sites, and I'd also expect this group to have a higher proportion of MSN Search and Yahoo users.

helios at Ask.Metafilter.Com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

I only use Yahoo for searching their groups, but they are are really useful and I use it quite a bit. Maybe that accounts for some fo the difference?

fshgrl

Just for reference, the "80-90% google" that I'm referring to is not just for my own site (which is ~96% google), it covers sites of friends, co-workers, and ones I've managed in the past, covering law, music, blogs, personal pages, sports, "talk about anything" forums, etc. AmbroseChapel has a good point - perhaps Yahoo! searchers, for example, simply see the results and don't find anything meaningful, so they stop searching. And IshmaelGraves, perhaps you're right. Google has much less incentive to keep searchers within its own network than Yahoo, which has a site for almost any conceivable topic. Maybe Yahoo/MSN are just skilled in keeping people within their own little world. It'd be interesting if some group did a more in-depth analysis on this topic than a simple "xx% market share."

helios

you would expect users to start recognizing that and switch over, hence converging the two measures. No, I wouldn't. Most people aren't like that. They use whatever search engine they're used to. They don't follow tech trends, they don't know that one search engine might be different to another or know that there even are different search engines.

AmbroseChapel

Yahoo is very large overseas....

crewshell

Yahoo! handled 19 percent of global Internet searches in November, a drop from 27 percent a year earlier, according to Web tracker ComScore Networks Inc. Google's share, by contrast, rose to 60 percent from 47 percent. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/256748_yahoo24.html

Lanark

I also see consistently that Google accounts for 80 - 90% of the search referrals, and everyone I know uses Google. If you'd check the Alexa traffic details you can get a better picture, which confirms the 80%-90% traffic. (search.)google.com 76%*271,900=206644 search.yahoo.com 8%*276,650=22132 search.msn.com 8%*263,100=21048 Conclusion: "There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics."

Sharcho

One or both of two possibilities: 1. You're higher ranked on the google searches, so the MSN and Yahoo searchers never reach you. 2. Google searchers are of a demographic more likely to be searching for what you're offering on your website. (Others have suggested this above.) NB that your website is not a microcosm of the web as a whole.

commander_cool

Yahoo usage is higher among women and also higher among people who are in e-commerce window shopping mode. Google is used by the more technical, for finding a specific item and research and business related activities.

Mick

After years of working in undergraduate computer labs and public libraries, I'm firmly in the IshmaelGraves/pmurray camp.

box

Load more

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.