General Search Engine Guidelines· Best Practice and White-Hat SEO

Ranking of the top Search Engines by Search Share in January 2005 by users in the U.S.

* Note: Searches are the total number of queries conducted at a search engine during the specified reporting period, excluding internal site searches.

The majority of Internet searchers use multiple search engines, according to the Nielsen//NetRatings study. The finding shows the volatility of the search market as the major players intensify their competition for user loyalty.

The study found that 58 percent of Google searchers also visited at least one of the other top two search engines, Yahoo! and MSN Search.

The use of multiple search engines also applies to Yahoo! and MSN searchers. Approximately 71 percent of Yahoo! searchers also visited one of the other top two engines, and 70 percent of MSN searchers also used one or both of the other two.

However, NetRatings did find some differences in consumer loyalty to the different search engines. Google users were found to show a higher degree of loyalty than users of other engines. Google shared approximately 58 percent of its visitors: 26 percent with Yahoo!, 19 percent with MSN, and 14 percent with both Yahoo! and MSN.

For its part, Yahoo! shared 71 percent of its traffic: 39 percent with Google, 11 percent with MSN, and 21 percent with both Google and MSN. MSN, meanwhile, shared 70 percent of its traffic: 33 percent with Google, 13 percent with Yahoo!, and 24 percent with both Google and Yahoo!