From: mike 

> Microsoft Corp.'s sites lost 0.6 percentage points
> to 10.3 percent, comScore data showed.


Hasn't Microsoft been making a big push recently for their new Live Search
functionality?

 /m



On Sat, 26 May 2007 11:49:25 -0400, "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote:

>
>Google's share of U.S. search market jumped in April
>
>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070525/wr_nm/google_search_dc_2;_ylt=AvOoesDHKLWY
lGwThIGC_stkM3wV
>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. in April showed a
>sharp gain in market share among U.S. Web search users, taking business from
>its three closest rivals, research firm comScore Inc. said on Friday.
>
>Shares of Google jumped 1.7 percent, or $8.03, to $482.36 in Nasdaq trading
>after the independent online audience measurement firm released data showing
>Google held 49.7 percent of the U.S. search market, up 1.4 percentage points
>over March.
>
>By contrast, the No. 2-ranked Web search provider, Yahoo Inc. saw its U.S.
>search share in April fall 0.7 points to 26.8 percent. Microsoft Corp.'s
>sites lost 0.6 percentage points to 10.3 percent, comScore data showed.
>
>IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com fell 0.1 percentage points in April to 5.1
>percent of the U.S market, it said.
>
>The research firm releases data monthly and is the most widely accepted
>measure of the Web search market competition.
>
>Google's 1.4 percentage point gain matched the combined losses of 1.4
>percentage points by Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask. Google has gained month by
>month over the past two years, taking share from rivals in 21 of the past 24
>months.
>
>The 1.4 point gain in Google's April market share was only exceeded by the
>1.5 percentage point jump Google enjoyed last November, according to
>comScore data.
>
>Time Warner Inc. sites, which include its AOL unit, held steady at 5.0
>percent, the monthly survey of search activity showed.
>
>U.S. Web users performed 7.3 billion searches in April, 11 percent more than
>a year earlier. Google sites attracted 3.6 billion searches by U.S. users
>during April, comScore said.
>
>
>
>http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_14/b4028045.htm
>
>
>
> Microsoft has already squandered much of the time it spent developing the
>search business. Until February, 2005, it licensed search technology from
>two companies, Overture and Inktomi. Then it launched a homegrown search
>engine, saying at the time that it would win over Web searchers with results
>that were more relevant than Google's. Last fall, Microsoft Chief Executive
>Steven A. Ballmer told BusinessWeek editors and reporters: "I think in the
>next three years, people will say, 'Hey, these guys are really a major
>player in online consumer and advertising.'"
>
>There are a number of reasons that hasn't happened yet. First, Google has
>performed near flawlessly. Early on, Google used its simple Web site to
>cement the impression that to search is to "Google." And
because more people
>search there, Google has more data with which to target relevant ads. The
>result: By some estimates, Google nets at least 50% higher revenue per
>search than No.2 Yahoo and other search sites--allowing Google to keep
>investing more in improvements. For instance, on Mar. 21 it revealed a new
>program to give advertisers the opportunity to pay only when someone
>responds to an ad--by purchasing a product, filling out a form, or some
>other action--rather than merely when they click on it. That may be more
>attractive to advertisers who want concrete results.
>
>Meanwhile, Microsoft has managed to confuse searchers. It elbowed into the
>search business on the back of its MSN franchise, a modestly successful
>online services business known mostly for its dial-up Internet access
>operation. Then Microsoft muddled its message in November, 2005, when it
>launched the "Live" initiative designed to turbocharge Web services,
>including search, with programs running on PCs. But Microsoft continued to
>use the MSN prefix on some Web sites, such as its portal and shopping page,
>while using Windows Live for its e-mail and search services. "You've got
>people who know Microsoft really well who don't know what Live means," says
>Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of searchengineland.com, which covers the
>business.
>
>Outside of the United States, various surveys put Google's share of the Web
>search market at 60 percent or better.
>

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