Mountain View, California-based Internet giant Google saw its share of the search engine market in the United  States fall slightly during January 2009, while its three largest rivals Yahoo, Microsoft and Time Warner's AOL each increased their shares, Reston, Virginia-based comScore said in an analysis released Wednesday. U.S. Web users performed nearly one billion more search engine queries during January than they did in December 2008, the Internet traffic research firm said. U.S. Core Search Queries Reached 13.5 Billion During January While Google maintained its long streak of dominance atop the U.S. search marketplace rankings in January, it's 63 percent share was a 0.5 percent drop from the 63.5 percent share comScore reported during December 2008. Despite its drop in overall U.S. search market share Google users performed 6 percent more search queries during January than during December 2008, with an 8.497 billion total for the month, a 461 million increase from a December 2008 total of 8.036 billion queries, according to the comScore core search query report. ComScore's search query report for January placed Google at the top of its wider-reaching expanded listings as well, with 11.714 billion total queries out of a U.S. total of 19.979 billion, a 5 percent increase from a December 2008 figure of 11.152 billion for Google. The expanded comScore search report, which broke that total down into two categories, saw queries at Google's primary site rise from 8.247 billion during December 2008 to 8.731 billion during January, an increase of 484 million queries, or 6 percent. Google's YouTube online video property and its other Web properties aside from its main search site saw a 3 percent, or 78 million query, increase in January searches totaling 2.983 billion, up from 2.905 billion during December 2008, the comScore report said. Google Held 63 Percent Of Search Market During January In comScore's core search report Yahoo maintained its longstanding second position in the U.S. search marketplace rankings for January, it's 21 percent share a 0.5 percent increase from the 20.5 percent share comScore reported last December. Yahoo users performed 9 percent more search queries during January than during December 2008, with an 2.836  billion total for the month, a 243 million increase from last December's total of 2.593 billion queries, according to the comScore core report. ComScore's search query report for January placed Yahoo in the second highest position on its wider-reaching expanded listings as well, with 2.979 billion total queries, a 10 percent increase from a December 2008 figure of 2.714 billion for Yahoo. The expanded comScore search report saw queries at Yahoo's primary site that rose from 2.686 billion during December 2008 to 2.952 billion during January, an increase of 266 million queries, or 10 percent. Yahoo's other Web properties aside from its main search site saw a 4 percent, or 1 million query, decrease in January searches totaling 27 million, down from 28 million during December 2008, the comScore report said. In comScore's core search report Microsoft held the third position in the U.S. search marketplace rankings for January, it's 8.5 percent share a 0.2 percent increase from the 8.3 percent share comScore reported during December 2008. Yahoo Searches Accounted For 21 Percent Of U.S. Total During January Microsoft users performed 8 percent more search queries during January than during December 2008, with a 1.136 billion total for the month, an 81 million increase from a last December total of 1.055 billion queries, according to the comScore report. ComScore's search query report for January placed Microsoft in the third highest spot on its expanded listings as well, with 1.188 billion total queries, a 9 percent increase from a December 2008 figure of 1.092 billion for Yahoo. The expanded comScore search report saw queries at Microsoft's MSN and Windows Live sites that rose from 997 million during December 2008 to 1.084 billion during January, an increase of 87 million queries, or 9 percent. Yahoo's other Web properties aside from its main search sites saw a 9 percent, or 9 million query, increase in January searches totaling 104 million, up from the 95 million recorded last December, the comScore report said. In comScore's core search report AOL held the fourth spot in the U.S. search marketplace rankings for January, it's 3.9 percent share a 0.1 percent increase from the 3.8 percent share comScore reported during December 2008. Microsoft Sites Held 8.5 Percent Share Of U.S. Search Marketplace AOL users performed 9 percent more search queries during January than during December 2008, with a 520 million total for the month, an 42 million increase from a December 2008 total of 478 million queries, according to the comScore report. ComScore's search query report for January placed AOL in the number four position in its  expanded listings, with 781 million total queries, a 6 percent increase from a December 2008 figure of 740 million for AOL. The expanded comScore search report recorded queries at AOL's main search site that rose from 424 million during December 2008 to 452 million during January, an increase of 28 million queries, or 7 percent. AOL's other Web properties apart from its primary search site, including MapQuest, saw a 4 percent, or 13 million query, increase in January searches totaling 329 million, up from 316 million during last December, the comScore report said. In comScore's core search report IAC InterActiveCorp's Ask.com held the number five spot in the U.S. search marketplace rankings for January, it's 3.7 percent share a 0.2 percent decrease from the 3.9 percent share comScore reported last December. Ask.com users performed 2 percent more search queries during January than during December 2008, with a 497 million total for the month, a 9 million increase from a December 2008 total of 488 million queries, according to the comScore report. Google U.S. Search Share Fell During January, While Yahoo, Microsoft And AOL Saw Rises ComScore's search query report for January placed Ask.com in the number five spot in its expanded listings, with 645 million total queries, a 4 percent increase from a December 2008 figure of 620 million for Ask.com. The expanded comScore search report saw queries at Ask.com's main search site that rose from 308 million during December 2008 to 317 million during January, an increase of 9 million queries, or 3 percent. Ask.com's additional Web properties aside from its main search site, including MyWebSearch.com, saw a 5 percent, or 16 million query, increase in January searches totaling 328 million, up from 312 million during December 2008, the comScore report said. Fox Interactive Media including its MySpace social networking property saw a 6 percent increase in search queries during January, while online auction site eBay saw an 8 percent increase during the month, according to the comScore data. The largest increase during January on the comScore expanded list came from Craigslist.org, which recorded a 28 percent increase from December 2008 figures. Amazon sites fell 4 percent during January, while Facebook, which rounded out the comScore expanded listings for the month, saw search queries that rose by 21 percent. Related Links:
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