Financial Analysts Release April comScore Search Data

The comScore monthly search data release is now such an anti-climax because it’s “leaked” a day ahead of time by financial analysts and then immediately republished by bloggers who receive the research notes. We’re on that list too. This month’s data (April) are a bit muddled because of UI changes at Yahoo and Google. Here’s […]

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The comScore monthly search data release is now such an anti-climax because it’s “leaked” a day ahead of time by financial analysts and then immediately republished by bloggers who receive the research notes. We’re on that list too.

This month’s data (April) are a bit muddled because of UI changes at Yahoo and Google. Here’s what the data say about share:

  • Google: 64.4 percent
  • Yahoo: 17.7 percent
  • Bing: 11.8 percent
  • Ask: 3.7 percent
  • AOL: 2.4 percent

Compare March data from comScore:

  • Google: 65.1 percent
  • Yahoo: 16.9 percent
  • Bing: 11.7 percent
  • Ask: 3.8 percent
  • AOL: 2.5 percent

The otherwise impressive growth in query volume at Yahoo is being widely attributed to a news search slideshow feature that automatically generates additional search queries associated with the progression of the images.

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Google’s UI changes had the opposite effect apparently. According to UBS analysts, “Google has made site changes that lower reported query volume – news or video searches conducted after a web search count as just one web search.”

Despite a mild share decline, query volume was up at Google 6 percent year over year.

Postscript: For more analysis on the Yahoo “jump,” see When Losers Are Winners: How Google Can “Lose” Search Share & Still Stomp Yahoo.


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About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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