Net searchers stick with the familiar

Posted on 7 Oct 2005 at 14:46

Microsoft may have declared its intention to become the biggest player on the Internet stage, but users appear to think differently. The latest Nielsen//NetRatings figures show a fall in MSN's share of Web searches.

At the end of July, Microsoft CEO Steve Baller declared that the company was 'going to win on the Web'. However it was Yahoo! and Google that enjoyed an upturn in August at the expense of both MSN and AOL.

Google continued to lead with almost 46 per cent of all searches, up 1.2 per cent on July. Yahoo! processed 23.2 per cent, up 1.4 per cent. MSN was third with 11.4 per cent, down from 12.2 per cent in July.

The total number of searches, a good indication of worldwide broadband usage, grew 10 per cent.

Although Google is enjoying a healthy lead and all the income that brings from sponsored links and the like, joint founder Larry Page is not content.

Omid Kordestani, Google's senior vice president of global sales and business development, told a San Francisco conference that Page times how long it takes for search queries to be answered.

'He doesn't think our search engine is a good search engine today,' Kordestani said.

But Kordestani insists that despite Ballmer's alleged promise to 'kill Google' the company's executive do not sit around worrying about Microsoft.

According to Yahoo! chairman Terry Semel they spend their time following in his company's footsteps.

He described that Google's recent attempts at diversification from its core search activities as 'haphazard'.

'So far they don't seem to have a plan, but maybe they do,' he mused.

Semel added that although Google may be enjoying better revenue growth at present, in the longer run Yahoo!s more diversified approach would be rewarded.

'This is a marathon run, not a sprint,' he said.

Author: Simon Aughton