Microsoft, Google and Yahoo Sink Hand-in-Hand

The search market is an instable environment where perpetual change is the only de facto factor. And the trio dominating the search business, accounting for in excess of 85% of all the queries entered into their respective search engines, feels the repercussions of the users' behavior with each passing month. In April 2007, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo all saw their search shares drop.

The combined search results from Microsoft's MSN and Windows Live Search have put the Redmond Company in the third position lagging behind Google and Yahoo, during the past months. According to data made available by Nielsen//NetRatings, Microsoft attracted a total of 612,526,000 searches in April down from 717,056,000 in March 2007. While the Redmond Company experienced a boost in its search business from the turn of the year, April saw Microsoft lose search share once again.

The company dropped from 10.1% of the market in March to just 9.0% in April. Although Microsoft's search indicated strong positive signs of growth and seemed reinvigorated in early 2007, the momentum seems to be wearing out and the company is yet again losing ground to its rivals.

When it comes down to the number of queries entered into Google, the Mountain View-based company is also down. In April 2007, Google handled only 3,773,032,000 searches. Compare that to the 3,773,032,000 searches in March, and it is clear that Google has attracted less users. Still, the Mountain View search giant has fallen firmly on its feet and, despite a loss in the volume of queries, Google increased its market share from 53.7% to 55.2%.

The runner up is the only company that shows signs of stagnation. Yahoo has drawn in 1,497,154,000 searches in April, compared to 1,550,574,000 experiencing only a small oscillation and even jumped a whole 0.1%, increasing its market share from 21.8% to 21.9%.