Nielson Online has released data for the top U.S. Internet search providers…and the results contain a surprise. According to Nielsen (PDF), Google’s share of the U.S. Internet search market actually declined during December 2008, slipping from 64.1 percent in November to 62.9 percent in December. Nonetheless, 2008 remains overall a banner year for Google, which saw a significant increase in the number of searches it handles, and a 33.5 percent year-on-year increase in its share of the search market.
