Nielsen//NetRatings, an Internet media and market research firm, have reported Q1 and Q2 search growth for the top five search engines.
Popularity of AOL and Ask Jeeves rose 15% and 16% percent, respectively, in the number of searches conducted, while Google and Yahoo! maintained single digit growth. Overall, search as a category saw a 5% increase in the number of searches conducted from Q1 to Q2 during 2005.
Ken Cassar, director of strategic analysis at Nielsen//NetRatings said,
"While growth in searches was modest among the ‘Big Three' search engines, the fourth and fifth biggest search engines, AOL and Ask Jeeves, grew three times as fast. While it's far too early to say that Google needs to watch its back, a resurgent AOL makes the game a lot more interesting."
The newly released June 2005 "MegaView Search" report ranks Google at number one, with 47% of all searches conducted online, Yahoo! at 22% and MSN at 12%. AOL Search held just 5% of all searches, and for the first time, My Way Search made its way into the top five rankings, garnering 2% of all searches.
Ken Cassar continued,
"My Way's unique anti-advertising value proposition resonates with a small, but growing market niche. As online publishers enjoy the growing demand for advertising inventory and continue to create more ad slots within a finite number of Web pages, this disaffected minority may become a force that the major players need to contend with."
Image search was the main vertical driving the growth experienced by four of the top five search engines during Q2 as compared to Q1. MSN saw the largest increase in its image searches with a 90% spike. AOL's image search soared 74%, Yahoo!'s rose 55%, and Google's jumped 12%.
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