Every month about this time comScore releases the search engine rankings data, and I report it here. These are not the actual search engine rankings that you see when you search at a search engine, which are constantly changing.
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) , a leader in measuring the digital world, has recently released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in August with 65.4 percent of searches conducted.
Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in August with 65.4 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 17.4 percent (up 0.3 percentage points) and Microsoft sites with 11.1 percent (up 0.1 percentage points). Ask Network captured 3.8 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL LLC with 2.3 percent.
Here are the actual numbers, as released by comScore:
comScore Explicit Core Search Share Report*
August 2010 vs. July 2010
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch
Explicit Core Search Share
Core Search Entity (%)
Point
Jul-10 Aug-10 Change
Total Explicit Core
Search 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Google Sites 65.8% 65.4% -0.4
Yahoo! Sites 17.1% 17.4% 0.3
Microsoft Sites 11.0% 11.1% 0.1
Ask Network 3.8% 3.8% 0.0
----------- --- --- ---
AOL LLC Network 2.3% 2.3% 0.0
--------------- --- --- ---
*”Explicit Core Search” excludes contextually driven searches that do not reflect specific user intent to interact with the search results.
Nearly 15.7 billion explicit core searches were conducted in August. Google Sites ranked first with 10.3 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! Sites in second with 2.7 billion (up 3 percent) and Microsoft Sites in third with 1.7 billion (up 2 percent). Ask Network accounted for 598 million explicit core searches (up 2 percent) followed by AOL LLC Network with 366 million.
comScore Explicit Core Search Query Report
August 2010 vs. July 2010
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch
Explicit Core Search Queries
Core Search Entity (MM)
Percent
Jul-10 Aug-10 Change
Total Explicit Core
Search 15,589 15,695 1%
Google Sites 10,263 10,259 0%
Yahoo! Sites 2,661 2,728 3%
Microsoft Sites 1,712 1,744 2%
Ask Network 588 598 2%
----------- --- --- ---
AOL LLC Network 365 366 0%
--------------- --- --- ---
Google Sites accounted for 60.5 percent of total core search queries conducted, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 21.0 percent and Microsoft Sites with 12.8 percent. Ask Network captured 3.5 percent of total search queries, followed by AOL LLC with 2.2 percent.
comScore Total Core Search Share Report*
August 2010 vs. July 2010
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch
Core Search Entity Total Core Search Share (%)
Point
Jul-10 Aug-10 Change
Total Core Search 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Google Sites 61.6% 60.5% -1.1
Yahoo! Sites 20.1% 21.0% 0.9
Microsoft Sites 12.6% 12.8% 0.2
Ask Network 3.5% 3.5% 0.0
----------- --- --- ---
AOL LLC Network 2.2% 2.2% 0.0
--------------- --- --- ---
* “Total Core Search” is based on the five major search engines, including partner searches, cross-channel searches and contextual searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in these numbers.
Americans conducted more than 16.9 billion total core search queries in August with Google Sites leading with 10.3 billion searches, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 3.6 billion and Microsoft Sites with 2.2 billion.
comScore Total Core Search Query Report
August 2010 vs. July 2010
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore qSearch
Total Core Search Queries
Core Search Entity (MM)
Percent
Jul-10 Aug-10 Change
Total Core Search 16,673 16,950 2%
Google Sites 10,263 10,259 0%
Yahoo! Sites 3,351 3,562 6%
Microsoft Sites 2,106 2,166 3%
Ask Network 588 598 2%
----------- --- --- ---
AOL LLC Network 365 366 0%
--------------- --- --- ---
A Note about September 2010 qSearch Reporting
comScore’s ability to report qSearch data for September 2010 will not be impacted by recent changes in the search landscape, including the introduction of Google Instant Search and Microsoft’s powering of specific channels of search activity within Yahoo! Google’s introduction of Instant Search does not disrupt comScore’s ability to measure search activity consistently, but does introduce a new dynamic that will be addressed in our data collection methodology.