Hitwise: Google Still Extending Search Lead

Market analysis firm Hitwise says Google continued to extend its overall lead in the Internet search market during October, at the expense of Yahoo and Microsoft.

Internet giant Google is the acknowledged overall leader in Internet search, but Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.com have been ramping up their search efforts, hoping to give Google a run for its money—specifically, its advertising money. However, market analysis firm Hitwise finds that, despite these efforts, Google is continuing to extend its overall lead in the Internet search marketplace—and those gains are coming at the expense of Yahoo and Microsoft.

According to Hitwise, Google commanded 64.49 percent of all U.S. searches during the four weeks ending October 27, 2007. Yahoo came in a distant second with 21.65 percent, MSN Search (which includes Live.com and MSN garnered 7.42 percent of the market, and Ask.com rounded out the top four with 4.76 percent. The numbers represent a month-to-month gain for Google, which Hitwise found garnered 63.55 percent of September’s search traffic; however, the numbers represent month-to-month declines for both Yahoo and MSN Search, which dipped from September figures of 22.55 percent and 7.83 percent, respectively.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo have both recently launched efforts to improve their search functions and draw more users.

And the other 49 search engines monitored by Hitwise? According to the firm, they collectively accounted for 1.68 percent of U.S. Internet searches.