Google: Internet Search Giant Records Drop in UK Market Share

According to reports on theeword.com, Google UK has seen a drop in market share, for the 4 weeks ending Feb. 4.

To begin with, the report talks about the fact that the search engine market in the UK is almost entirely divided between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. This is in contrast, albeit only slightly, to the U.S. market, where, in addition to the big three, Bing, Ask, AOL and assorted others enjoy varying degrees of market share.

As far as the UK market is concerned, Google's January, 2012 market share figures were apparently impressive. The numbers, published by intelligence service Experian Hitwise (for four weeks ending Jan. 7, 2012), showed that Google.com and Google.co.uk enjoyed a 91.28 percent market share. Their closest competitor was Bing, with 3.64 percent. These numbers were marginally up and down, respectively, from the December, 2011 figures. Importantly, Google recorded a 0.59 percent increase.

The latest stats, however, indicate that Google has dropped to 90.84 percent for the current period (four weeks ending Feb. 4); this is a drop of 0.44 percent. Bing, on the other hand, has gained... relatively, of course. They have seen their market share grow from 3.64 percent to 3.78 percent... the largest among the competing companies.

The U.S. figures make as good reading for Google, although the numbers are significantly lower.

The report indicates the American company improved on January's figures to clock in at 66.84 percent. Rivals Yahoo and Bing also made gains, finishing with 14.46 percent and 12.98 percent.