Global Searches Experience Significant Growth in 2009
A recent report from comScore reveals that the number of searches worldwide increased by 46% in 2009. 131 billion searches were conducted in the month of December alone. The biggest market for searches was the U.S., where 17% of all global searches are conducted. The U.K. came in fourth, after China and Japan. However, its 6.2 billion search queries for the month of December represent an increase of 35% from last year.
As usual, Google reigned, taking 67% of the search engine market for a total of 87.8 billion searches. Yahoo came in next, its 9.4 billion searches taking up 13% of the pie. Microsoft came in third with 4.1 billion. However, Microsoft experienced one of the largest growth rates, its search volume rising by 70%.
Jack Flanagan, executive VP at comScore, stated, "The global search market continues to grow at an extraordinary rate...search is clearly becoming a more ubiquitous behaviour among internet users, which drives navigation not only directly from search engines but also within sites and across networks"