Google's Domination of Internet Search Grows, but Yahoo! Dominates Local Search

In the 15 months since Google's IPO, industry observers have pondered whether the search giant could hold onto its loyal audience in the face of increasingly aggressive competition. Despite MSN's vow to own search, and major advancements by Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves, Google is still the dominant consumer search engine by far.

New data from Hitwise, the world's leading online competitive intelligence service, show that the top three search engines - Google, Yahoo Search and MSN Search - accounted for 93.5 percent of U.S. Internet searches across major engines in July 2005. Amidst that triumvirate's consolidation of search power still lies Google, which claimed 59.2 percent of searches across all major engines in the same month, a 14 percent increase in share versus a year-ago. Yahoo! Search and MSN search respectively captured 28.8 percent and 5.5 percent share of searches in July 2005.

Google's growth is noteworthy considering that, unlike its competitors, it does not have a stand-alone portal to drive traffic to the service. Yahoo! Search received 73 percent of its visits directly from its main portal sites (www.yahoo.com and my.yahoo.com) in July 2005, while MSN Search received 61 percent of its visits from its portal sites (www.msn.com, my.msn.com and dellnet.msn.com).

"Google continues to demonstrate the value of effective Internet search on its own, irrespective of any connection to a general Internet portal," said Bill Tancer, General Manager, Worldwide Research, Hitwise. "Clearly the next big challenge for Google will be the arrival of Microsoft's new operating system, "Vista", which is said to have far tighter search integration."

Local Search

While Google may dominate general search, attention is directing toward local search, and Yahoo! is the leading service in that arena. Visits to Yahoo! Local (local.yahoo.com) were 4.4 times greater than visits to Google Local (local.google.com) in July 2005. However, Google Local's market share increased 61 percent between February 2005 and July 2005, while Yahoo! Local grew 14 percent. Google Local's catch-up is occurring amidst the growth of Google Maps (maps.google.com), which has quickly grown to become the third ranked site in the Hitwise Travel - Maps category in July 2005. Maps have proved important to local search users, as 17 percent of Yahoo! Local's visitors went directly onto Yahoo! Maps in July 2005.

To request the Hitwise Search Report for a more in-depth analysis that provides great insights into trends in the online search engine market, click here.

The misfortune of Atkins Nutritionals, which declared bankruptcy this week, is proof that once high-flying low-carb diets have lost their luster. While this trend has been occurring for some time, Internet searches tracked among ten million US online users indicate just how much low-carb is dissipating from the American psyche.
U.S. consumer Internet searches for "atkins diet" and "low carb" - two of the most prolific terms associated with low-carb dieting - have plunged 67 percent and 70 percent, respectively, during the four weeks ending July 23, 2005 versus year-ago. Almost simultaneously, the market share of U.S. Internet visits to the official Atkins Nutritionals Web site (www.atkins.com) decreased 71 percent the week ending July 30, 2005 versus year-ago.

"Passively monitoring search and surfing behaviors can provide predictive and directional insight into consumer interest and lifestyle behaviors, as evidenced with diet and weight loss," said Bill Tancer, General Manager, Worldwide Research, Hitwise. "While actual product sales are perhaps the most important near-term data, search data are particularly powerful in indicating the degree of engagement between consumers, individual brands and relevant issues. In effect, search behavior data become a powerful window into future purchase propensity."

Various Weight-Loss Programs Fuel Category Interest

The low-carb and Atkins' era may have passed, but interest in weight loss has not, if traffic to weight-loss Web sites is any indication. The market share of Internet visits to the Hitwise Health - Wellbeing category - comprised almost entirely of diet, weight-loss and fitness sites - increased six percent the week ending July 30, 2005 versus a year-ago. Some notable commercial sites to increase in market share during that period include: www.nutrisystem.com, up 432 percent; www.jennycraig.com, up 62 percent; www.southbeachdiet.com, up 39 percent; and www.zonediet.com, up 96 percent.

The market share of total U.S. Internet searches for the terms "nutrisystem" and "jenny craig" increased 1,299 percent and 253 percent for the four weeks ending July 23, 2005 versus year-ago.

U.S.D.A.'s MyPyramid Bursts Onto the Scene

The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its new interactive food guidance system on April 19, 2005 to replace the Food Guide Pyramid which was introduced in 1992. Billed as an "overall food guidance system that emphasizes the need for a more individualized approach to improving diet and lifestyle," www.mypyramid.gov skyrocketed into the Hitwise rankings and became the number-two site in the Health - Wellbeing category during its first week of existence. While publicity and government-site referrals rapidly drove this site to the top, its traffic leveled nearly as fast. The site is maintaining six percent of the traffic levels it had during the week of its launch and now ranks 23rd in the Hitwise Wellbeing category, just above the official Slim Fast Web site (www.slim-fast.com).

Post-launch traffic levels have expectedly leveled off, but a testament to MyPyramid is the fact that nearly half (46.9 percent) of visitors continue on to MyPyramid Tracker (www.mypyramidtracker.gov), a highly personalized transactional site that provides information on your diet quality, physical activity status, related nutrition messages, and links to nutrient and physical activity information.

Hitwise Search Intelligence data reveal the most popular search terms which resulted in visits to 'Sports - Fantasy' websites for the 4 weeks ending August 20, 2005. The results are ordered based on the volume of searches (see table below).

Fast Mover - Google Scholar

scholar.google.com


Rank week ending May 28: 473
Rank week ending July 30: 8
Positions jumped: 465

Google has done it again! With the unveiling of one of Google's latest creations which focuses on academic content, Google Scholar (www.scholar.google.com) aims to provide scholarly literature through the familiar Google search box. Hitwise data show that the official site of Google Scholar experienced an increase in market share of US Internet visits by 1,228 percent (week ending July 30, 2005 versus week ending May 28, 2005). The site has climbed among 'Education' websites - from number 473 (week ending May 28, 2005) to number 8 (week ending July 30, 2005).

Hitwise Clickstream data further reveal that Google.com is responsible for over 90 percent of visits to scholar.google.com (week ending July 30, 2005). Hitwise Lifestyle (PRIZM NE Social Groups) data reveal that the Urban Uptown is the most dominant traffic drivers to scholar.google.com (week ending July 30, 2005), capturing 11.1% of visits. One of the 5 segments in this group is Young Digerati. This tech-savvy group is affluent, highly educated, and ethnically mixed.

Category Spotlight: Shopping and Classifieds – Apparel and Accessories

This category includes businesses that sell clothing, apparel and accessories, both online and offline. The data below is based on All sites » Weekly rankings for the week ending 08/20/2005 » Ranks by 'Visits'.

Top 10 Shopping and Classifieds – Apparel and Accessories sites		Average Session Duration
Victoria's Secret Old Navy Gap Online Zappos.com American Eagle Outfitters L.L. Bean Lands' End Disney Direct Hot Topic Chadwick's		The average session duration for the Shopping and Classifieds – Apparel and Accessories category during the week ending 08/20/05 was 8 minutes, 59 seconds which represents an increase of 2 seconds compared with last week.

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Copyright Hitwise Pty Ltd, August 2005