05-Sep-2007, 11:22 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
|
|
Administrator
Posts: 18,712
Join Date: Jan 2006
Rep Power: 10
|
84% of Microsoft Users Search with Google...
The vast majority of Microsoft users are searching the Internet with Google, showing little to no loyalty at all for the brands the Redmond company is struggling to grow. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are running in a three horse race for the dominant position over the search engine market. Currently the Mountain View search giant is the indisputable leader, with Yahoo as the runner-up and with Microsoft in a now traditional third place. But the Redmond company is by far failing to convince users that the grass is not greener on the other side of its Live Search and MSN search engines. In this context, Microsoft occupies the first position out of the trio when it comes to the sheer volume of users that are oscillating between its own and rival search solutions, although the phenomenon also impacts Google and Microsoft, but with inferior percentages. "These search providers are doing a good job of bringing their visitors back month after month, which is an important sign of the health of their customer relationships and a measure with significant financial implications, given the expense of acquiring new customers," revealed Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings.
According to data made public by Internet metrics company Nielsen//NetRatings, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo experienced "high month-over-month visitor retention rates" taking into consideration statistics from June and July, however, the audience overlap is also significant and affecting the Redmond company the most.
No less than 84% of the users of MSN and Live Search also used Google or Yahoo or even both in July. The past month, Microsoft's search engines accounted for over 1 billion searches according to Nielsen//NetRatings, Google managed 4.1 billion and Yahoo just 1.6 billion. In terms of audience overlapping Yahoo is second with 78% of its users also searching Google and Microsoft. The Mountain View-based company has the most loyal of users as only 63% of its audience went to rivals Yahoo and Microsoft.
"The Web is a highly competitive marketplace because of the ease of comparison ‘shopping’ online. Even Web sites with established and loyal audiences have to continually innovate to stay ahead. Google stepped into a highly competitive market when it first launched, and armed with a better mousetrap, it quickly became the company to beat. Given the high degree of competitive sampling in the search business, it is conceivable that it could happen again," Cassar added.
|
|
|
Linear Mode
