25 July 2006

The Google search engine is used for nearly half of all keyword searches on the Internet, according to research from Nielsen and Net Ratings.

The two companies monitored a month of online searches and found that Google processed 2.7 billion queries and accounted for 49.4 per cent of all searches making it a comfortable leader of search engines worldwide.

Google was visited twice as many times than Yahoo Search, which processed 1.2 billion searches in the same period as Google.

Google has grown by 31 per cent in the last 12 months and Yahoo has also seen significant growth of 29 per cent.

The real surprise search engine, however, was Ask.com, which has grown by 66 per cent in the last year.

Other search engines that have also grown in the last 12 months include AOL Search, which has narrowly outdone MSN Search in terms of market share.

It has been estimated that over 80 per cent of websites are found using a search engine making it essential for companies to ensure that their details are easily found on them.

© Adfero Ltd

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