Culture

And the prize goes to... Google, again

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.

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Elinor Mills

March 30, 2006 6:23 p.m. PT

Google had 48.5 percent of all Web searches conducted in the United States in February, far ahead of Yahoo (22.5 percent), MSN (10.7 percent) and America Online (6.6 percent), according to figures released on Thursday by Nielsen/NetRatings.

Behind those search providers were My Way, with 2.7 percent market share, and Ask.com with 2.4 percent. The number of searches year-over-year grew the most on My Way, up 145 percent, and Ask.com, up 99 percent, while search volume rose 46 percent for Google from a year ago, 49 percent for Yahoo and only 4 percent for MSN. AOL's search volume change year-over-year could not be determined due to a change in methodology, Nielsen/NetRatings said.

Figures released earlier this week from ComScore Networks had Google with 42.3 percent of the domestic search market in February, Yahoo with 27.6 percent, MSN with 13.5 percent, AOL with 8 percent and Ask.com with 6 percent.