Google Continues to Top Internet Searches

New January numbers from measurement firm comScore Networks indicate Google has 41.4 percent market share and also that overall Internet searches are down from this time last year.

End of January numbers which came out from Internet measurement firm comScore Networks yesterday indicate that Google continued to maintain a comfortable lead as the top search engine amongst its peers. The data is collected on a monthly basis.

Google, said comScore Networks, topped the search engine pile with a 41.4 percent share of all searches submitted, up more than 6 share points from this time last year. Second place went to Yahoo! with 28.7 percent and MSN at third with 13.7 percent.

Other findings from comScore’s January 2006 numbers include an 11 percent jump in combined total searches – 5.48 billion – from the previous year and Google capturing total downloadable tool bar searches at 49.5 percent.

It is interesting to note, comScore pointed out, that overall searches online have seen a substantial slowdown versus the previous year.

“This report provides evidence that the growth in the U.S. Search market is slowing,” commented Dr. Magid Abraham, President and CEO of comScore Networks, in a statement. “The good news for search companies is that the utilization of search queries for advertising purposes continues to increase. In December 2005, 57.2 percent of search query results included a sponsored advertisement, up from 49.1 percent a year earlier. Additionally, the international search market continues to be strong, with a growth rate of 34 percent based on comScore’s December 2005 international data. As a result, search revenue growth will significantly outpace search query growth. At the same time the slowdown in the overall growth rates is unmistakable.”