September Search Share: Yahoo Continues Downward Slide

We’re getting the usual sneak peek at comScore data from financial analysts ahead of the official release tomorrow. In terms of the market-share horse race, Google gained ground vs. last month. Bing was flat; AOL and especially Ask gained as well. Sadly, Yahoo experienced another month of decline — to its lowest market share in memory.

And now, behold the September comScore numbers:

• Google: 66.7 percent (66.4 percent in August)
• Bing: 15.9 percent (15.9 percent in August)
• Yahoo: 12.2 percent (12.8 percent in August)
• Ask: 3.5 percent (3.2 percent in August)
• AOL: 1.8 percent (1.7 percent in August)

The Microsoft-Yahoo Search Alliance market combined share was also down (because of Yahoo) to 28.1 percent. Their joint reach has hovered around 29 percent since inception. And now it’s dipped below that figure.

Inquiring minds want to know whether Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is going to orchestrate some sort of search intervention. If not Yahoo could see its market share slip further to below 10 percent a year from now.

The following graphic compares the relative positions of the engines today vs. a year ago.

Data source: comScore

The figures above don’t reflect mobile search, which represents a growing share of overall query volume. Indeed, earlier today digital agency RKG released a report that asserted non-PC devices (smartphones and tablets) combined to drive 21 percent of overall organic search traffic in Q3.

Postscript: The official comScore data are now out, confirming the figures above:

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He researches and writes about the connections between digital and offline commerce. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.