How search engine market share changed during 2011

Google up, Bing down

Intelligence service Experian Hitwise has published the latest UK search engine market share stats for December 2011.

For the four weeks ending 10th December 2011, Hitwise revealed that Google.com and Google.co.uk achieved a combined total of 90.69 per cent of search volume. This is a slight improvement on its November 2011 search engine market share, but doesn't quite live up to the summer's highs.

Bing received 3.76 per cent of search volume, showing a slight dip, while Yahoo remained relatively steady at 2.44 and Ask continued its slow growth by rising to 1.82 per cent of UK search volume. Interestingly, a recent browser market share study revealed Google Chrome has overtaken Mozilla Firefox and is catching up with market leader Microsoft Internet Explorer, although there is still quite a gap to close.

A year of mixed fortunes

The fluctuations in search engine market share over the course of 2011 may have been minor month-by-month. However, when looking at the year as a whole - or rather, since Hitwise began publishing stats in February - certain trends are visible:

• Google (top graph) has fluctuated between 89 and 92 per cent of search volume, with a jump in July. It ends 2011 with an almost 87 per cent advantage over its nearest rival.
• Bing and Yahoo (bottom graph) have seen a steady downward trajectory, both ending the year almost half a per cent lower than they began it.
• In recent months, Ask (bottom graph) has begun growing in popularity again, approaching a similar search volume to fallen giant Yahoo.

Meanwhile, here are the UK search engine market share stats for December 2011: