Google draws 64 pct of U.S. search queries: Hitwise
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc.'s market share inched up to 64 percent of all queries among U.S. Internet searchers in March, gaining further ground against Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., a survey released on Wednesday by Hitwise found.
The number of search queries on Google rose to 64.1 percent in March, compared with 63.9 percent in February and 58.3 percent a year ago, according to Hitwise, which bases its report on the surfing habits of 10 million U.S. Web users.
A more conservative survey by online measurement firm comScore Networks from February also showed how Google's U.S. market share grew to 48.1 percent in February from a 47.5 percent share in January. On a global basis, comScore estimates Google held a 65.7 percent share of the Web search market.
Hitwise said Yahoo search queries slipped to about 21.3 percent from close to 21.5 percent in February and 22.3 percent in March 2006, while MSN Search dipped to 9.2 percent from 9.3 percent in February and 13.1 percent a year ago.
Google is gaining strength in specific categories of searches, accounting for more than 28 percent of traffic to health-related sites in March and nearly 19 percent of traffic to travel sites, the Hitwise survey found.
Google shares were nearly unchanged at $466.71 on the Nasdaq while Yahoo slipped 1.6 percent to $31.17. The two companies report quarterly financial results next week.
