Even though Google’s online search engine market share is dominant today, there is significant opportunity for its competitors to grow their share.
Some 58% of Google searchers also visited at least one of the other top two search engines, MSN Search and Yahoo, in January. At the same time, 71% of Yahoo search users and 70% of MSN Search users used at least one other search engine, according to the study Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search.
“It is critical that all of the major search players, including Google, recognize that they exclusively own only a minority of their users,” said Ken Cassar, director, strategic analysis, Nielsen//NetRatings, in a statement. “This highlights an opportunity and a threat to all of the established players in the market, and underscores the importance of continued innovation in a highly competitive market that is anything but mature.”
The study also showed Google as the dominant search engine in terms of sheer numbers. Of the 4.1 million searches documented by Nielsen//NetRatings, 47%, or 1.9 were conducted through Google.
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