Search Engine Market Share

Search engines have overtaken the Internet and become the standard way to browse or search. We all have our favorite search engine, and many of us use a search engine as our browser’s home page. Which search engine do you favor? Do you know which search engine your consumers favor?

Google Leads U.S. Market Share

In the United States, more users prefer Google, making it the most-used search engine with more than 67 percent of the market share. That might not be a surprise to most web users, but what does it mean for your company and your website?

Before you begin optimizing your website to align with any one search engine, you need to take a look at some analytical data about your website. Based on your users, consumers and site visitors, which search engine leads in returning query results for your company, and which search engine do you users come from the most? No matter what your personal preference is, you want your website to be optimized for your users, so if they use Google the most, then you should optimize to Google’s guidelines. But if Bing sends more traffic to your site, you should consider optimizing for Microsoft’s search engine.

U.S. Search Engine Market Share Breakdown as of August 2014

  1. Google (67.3 percent)
  2. Bing (19.4 percent)
  3. Yahoo (10 percent)
  4. Ask (2 percent)
  5. AOL (1.3 percent)

These numbers reflect the division of the U.S. market share for desktop searches. When we look at the mobile device search numbers, Google remains in the lead, but it jumps to more than 83 percent. And while Yahoo is strong at more than 10 percent, it actually comes in second as Bing falls to third place with a little more than 5 percent.

Google Leads the Global Market Share

It might be no surprise for someone in the U.S. to hear that Google also leads the world in searches. In November 2014, Google owned 53.74 percent of the global market share for desktop searches, but the search engine completely annihilates the competition on mobile devices, coming in at 90.9 percent of the market share.

Global Search Engine Market Share Breakdown as of November 2014

  1. Google (53.74 percent)
  2. Baidu (31.82 percent)
  3. Bing (10.81 percent)
  4. Yahoo (3.52 percent)
  5. AOL (0.15 percent)
  6. Ask (0.07 percent)
  7. Other (0.39 percent)

Most people in the United States probably don’t recognize the second most-used search engine in the world, Baidu. Sometimes referred to as “China’s Google,” Baidu is the most commonly used search engine in Asia, and it is quickly growing. What that means for Google in the coming  years is yet to be seen, but as other search engines gain popularity in local markets, they may have a bigger impact on the global market.

Why Do Market Shares Matter?

So you may be wondering why market shares matter, and how they tie-in to your company’s website. As discussed, you should be optimizing your website for your audience. In the U.S., you could say that because Google is the leading search engine, you should only optimize for Google’s algorithms. But it’s important to take a look at your web traffic and see where your visitors are coming from and how they search. The results might surprise you, and if the data shows that your site visitors are coming from Bing, then you could be optimizing for the wrong search engine.

If your consumer base is more global, then you may want to learn more about Baidu. Companies with a target audience in Asia may see that the majority of their site traffic comes from search engine results through Baidu, and in that case, they should uncover Baidu’s priorities in ranking websites in order to appear higher in search engine results.

Don’t make this decision on a whim. Talk with your SEO strategist to determine how to optimize your website to reach your target audience and appeal to your audience in the future. Up-and-coming search engines may overtake Google in the next decade, so don’t become complacent in your SEO strategies. And keep checking the search engine market shares to stay ahead of the competition.

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