Search engine giant Google has always been a top performer, and while it still reigns supreme, a slight fall in market share is letting rival search engines get a decent look-in.
While Google is hardly about to collapse into bankruptcy, it is worth noting that it tumbled six-tenths of a percentage point last month while Bing’s US search market share hit yet another all-time high, passing the 17% mark for the first time.
This is according to comScore’s April 2013 qSearch report, which revealed that the quantity of core searches conducted using Google slipped to 66.5%, down 0.6 from the 67.1% it stood at in March.
On the contrary, Bing’s share of the 20 billion core searches (not including mobile) over the month totalled 17.3%, marking a 0.4% rise. Google’s loss was also offset by gains at Yahoo, which rose from 11.8% in March to 12% in April.
Is Google slowly losing its grip on its impressive search market share? Or do we simply accept that statistics tend to oscillate and wait and see what next month’s figures have in store?
Either way, the same thing seems to be happening here in the UK. Google has long enjoyed a remarkable 90%+ market share, and is the go-to search engine whenever a query needs answering.
But as 2012 drew to a close, Google dramatically dropped to its lowest percentage of market share in the UK in five years.
During the final quarter of last year, ‘just’ 89% of web searches were made using Google. Admittedly, this isn’t a huge drop in numbers, but nevertheless it boosted market share where Microsoft Bing and Yahoo were concerned, giving the rival search engines the chance to bolster their online presence.
With Bing and Yahoo now having a relatively strong foothold in the market, with a 5% and 3% market share respectively, it is perhaps worth giving them the time of day rather than relying solely on Google.
Why? Here are just a few reasons.
- Google may still have a solid grasp on the majority of the market share, but what about the 11% of people that are directing their queries elsewhere? 11% may be a minority but it still accounts for a lot of browsers
- With competition far lower on Bing and Yahoo than it is on Google, chances of exposure go through the roof in comparison
- If you are looking to advertise using a certain keyword or phrase, it is likely to be more affordable on search engines with a smaller market share rather than Google, where costs are at a premium
Dale Lovell
