This year, search became the internet industry's red hot sector. Many companies set their sights on emulating Google, whose impressive performance has led to a renewal of business interest in the internet.
But does Google need to worry about increased competition? According to figures published by OneStat.com (via Search Engine Lowdown) Google now accounts for over half of all web searches.
Here's the breakdown:
1. Google 56.1%
2. Yahoo 21.5%
3. MSN Search 9.4%
4. AOL Search 3.7%
5. Terra Lycos 2.3
6. Altavista 1.9%
7. Askjeeves 1.6%
Consider that Yahoo's search is powered by Google (type the same search into both engines and you'll see very similar results), and you could argue that Google's share is actually 77.6% -- over three quarters of all the web's searches.
Google's dominance of the search market is growing, not shrinking. Potential competitors are in for a tough ride.
Then again, Google didn't exist six years ago...
Comments
4 comments
This is more of a question than a comment. Are google at any point liable in terms of having a search engine monopoly or can this happen as people "choose" which search engine they wish to use?
I apologise now if all you other mediajunkists spot an overly naive member of this community.
John,
You're not being naive. I think it's an interesting point.
There are certainly a lot of articles out there that question whether Google has too much power.
There's even a site called GoogleWatch that is devoted to putting forward the argument that "Google's monopoly, algorithms,
and privacy policies are undermining the Web."
As to whether Google is "liable" for anything, I think that would be stretching the case. It has acheived its position as the #1 search engine fairly, through providing the best service, and doesn't seem to have engaged in any anti-competitive practices.
Finally, we shouldn't forget that Google's search service is still entirely free to users, and to those who wish to have their sites listed. Yes, it displays paid-for ads alongside its search results, but never mixes the two, and you don't have to click an ad if you don't want to...
quick note; google runs AOL search, too. Part of it anyway, I think Overture still does the top 3 results, but that might have been replaced with google adwords
FYI - Overture lost their contract with AOL a few months ago and of course you know that Overture was purchased by Yahoo in October.