Intro
Despite earlier reports suggesting a steep decline, Google's loss of U.S. search market share has been more gradual since August 2023. Danny Goodwin reports on May 5, 2024, that revised data from Statcounter corrects initial figures which showed Google suffering a dramatic reduction in April, while competitors Microsoft Bing and Yahoo experienced exaggerated growth.
Previously reported inaccurate data indicated that Google's U.S. search market share in April plummeted to 77.52%, down from 86.94% in March, and a year-over-year drop from 88.88%. Meanwhile, Microsoft Bing was shown to rise to 13.05% and Yahoo to 7.3% for the same period.
The corrected statistics reveal a less dramatic picture:
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Google registered 86.58%, a slight decrease from 86.94% in March and down from 88.88% the previous year.
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Microsoft Bing increased to 8.24%, slightly up from 8.04% in March, and an improvement from 6.43% year-over-year.
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Yahoo's market share rose marginally to 2.59%, from 2.48% in March and 2.33% year-over-year.
Despite these corrections, it's evident that Google has been slowly losing U.S. search market share since it peaked at 89.1% in May 2023, coinciding with the announcement of Google's Search Generative Experience.
Globally, Google's search market share stands at 90.91%, also reflecting a decrease from 91.38% in March and down from 92.82% year-over-year, with its highest in the past 12 months reaching 93.11% last May.
Microsoft Bing globally holds a 3.64% share, up from 2.76% year-over-year, and Yahoo maintains a 1.13% share, slightly up from 1.11%.
Statcounter continues to review its April 2024 search data, indicating that further adjustments are possible within the next 40 days as it completes its quality assurance testing and revisions.
Statcounter has acknowledged the data issue, and further comments are awaited. Danny plans to follow up for additional updates after the weekend.
