Google, Bing Make Small Gains

February was a quiet month for the search market; we're not going to suggest any companies either break out the champagne or fire their CEOs as a result of the small changes that took place.  Still, for those who are curious, comScore believes it was Google and Bing that came out looking like winners.

Google managed to increase its share of the U.S. search market to 65.5 percent, up from 65.4 percent in January, according to comScore's data.  Bing, meanwhile, accomplished a more impressive feat (in overall terms, and especially in relation to its size) by grabbing 0.2 percent of market share.

That put Bing in control of 11.5 percent of the market, up from 11.3 percent the month before.

Yahoo's share of the search market then decreased, heading from 17.0 percent to 16.8 percent.  Which is embarrassing, but not yet catastrophic, as the company's partnership with Microsoft moves towards completion.

The interesting thing will be if Bing and Yahoo keep trading share.  Also, of course, if Google keeps increasing its dominance.  We'll be sure to cover comScore's next report to see if any trends have emerged.

Google, Bing Make Small Gains

February was a quiet month for the search market; we're not going to suggest any companies either break out the champagne or fire their CEOs as a result of the small changes that took place.  Still, for those who are curious, comScore believes it was Google and Bing that came out looking like winners.

Google managed to increase its share of the U.S. search market to 65.5 percent, up from 65.4 percent in January, according to comScore's data.  Bing, meanwhile, accomplished a more impressive feat (in overall terms, and especially in relation to its size) by grabbing 0.2 percent of market share.

That put Bing in control of 11.5 percent of the market, up from 11.3 percent the month before.

Yahoo's share of the search market then decreased, heading from 17.0 percent to 16.8 percent.  Which is embarrassing, but not yet catastrophic, as the company's partnership with Microsoft moves towards completion.

The interesting thing will be if Bing and Yahoo keep trading share.  Also, of course, if Google keeps increasing its dominance.  We'll be sure to cover comScore's next report to see if any trends have emerged.

Google Suffers Market Share Stumble In The UK

While we normally don't comment on market share fluctuations that occur in places other than America, some recent changes in the UK may bear mentioning.  According to the AT Internet Institute, Google's share of the search market slipped by 1.6 percent between January and February.

That's a significant amount.  Indeed, as the slightly upsized figure below shows (sorry for any blurriness), if Ask and AOL had suffered similar losses, they'd have been wiped out, hitting zero.

Of course, that didn't happen.  Instead, both Yahoo and Bing benefited from Google's dip.  Yahoo gained a not-bad 0.6 percent, and Bing increased its share by an even-better 0.7 percent.

Google's still in an extremely dominant position, but given that Microsoft's about to spend $2 billion on Bing commercials in the UK, these changes are noteworthy.  Microsoft might not be throwing its money away, as some people have speculated; there's now the possibility that it could extend or accelerate this growth trend.

We'll be sure to write again about the UK search market next month if anything out of the ordinary happens.  In the meantime, it should be interesting to see how those Bing commercials are received.

How Much Is Mobile Going to Change the Search Market?

More people have the web in the palm of their hands than ever before. Smartphone usage isn't exactly slowing down, and for that reason, the search market might get shaken up considerably in the coming months. Google has long dominated the search market, and to this day continues to do so. There is nothing indicating that will change in the near future, but the rise of smartphones and deals among different players could conceivably shake things up, and make things a bit more competitive.

AT&T has just confirmed that a new Android device it is about to begin offering (The Motorola Backflip, launching March 7), will come with Yahoo as its default search engine, as opposed to Google. This is interesting of course, because Android is Google's mobile operating system. How many more deals like this will we see?

Microsoft will eventually launch its new Windows phones, which will come with a Bing hardware key. Owners of these phones will automatically use Bing as their search engine when they hit the search button, which will be the most convenient way of searching from the devices.

When you look at things like this, it almost seems as though popularity of specific mobile devices may dictate to some extent, search engine usage. Right now, Google powers the uber-popular iPhone's search, but that could change in time. It appears that mobile carriers and manufacturers are playing an increasingly significant role in search usage (probably a good reason that Microsoft is said to be investing a billion in mobile).

PC hardware traditionally hasn't made search a focal point, and therefore hasn't had a huge influence on what search engine a person uses. How much will PC use shift to smartphone use though? It's not likely to completely replace it anytime soon (as MIcrosoft CEO Steve Ballmer implied in his keynote at SMX West yesterday), but I know personally, I've spent less time on my PC since I got my current phone, and much of the activity I use that phone for requires search (the most convenient method being the hardware search button).

Then you have apps. New apps come out everyday, and you never know what's going to be popular tomorrow. There are already apps out there changing how people find local businesses, for example. More apps mean more choices for the consumer, and that could mean an even greater scattering of search market share.

It seems to me that mobile is the best thing search competition has going for it. For Google to defend its title, staying relevant in the mobile space is going to be key moving forward. Fortunately for them, they're doing a pretty good job so far. Last I saw, Android usage was on the rise (though deals like AT&T and Yahoo's seem to blur the lines a bit).

How big of an impact do you think the mobile industry will have on the search market? Share your thoughts here.

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