Experian Hitwise reveals latest UK Search Engine and Social Analysis
Google recovers lost ground as biggest and fastest moving search provider in April
YouTube accounts for 1 in 5 visits to all social networks in the UK
London, 06 May 2011 – Experian Hitwise’s latest Search Engine and Social Analysis shows that Google was the only search engine of the big four UK search providers to increase its market share of searches in April.
After losing market share in March, Google Sites recovered in April, at the expense of Microsoft, Yahoo! and Ask. Google Sites extended their dominance in the search market by 0.82% between March and April 2011, accounting for 90.84% of all searches conducted by UK Internet users in April.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and Yahoo! Sites both lost market share in terms of searches during April. Microsoft’s search engine Bing dropped to just over 4% of all searches conducted by UK Internet users, whilst Yahoo! Sites accounted for 3.15% of searches. Ask Sites also dipped in April, losing 0.19% market share during this period.
The movement in the search market means that Google is not only the industry leader in the UK but was also the fastest moving search engine for the month. Yahoo! saw the greatest loss in market share in April, but was still ahead of its position a year ago, when it commanded just over 3% of UK Internet searches.
Year-on-year, Microsoft Sites continue to show the fastest growth online. Since April 2010 Microsoft has improved from 3% of all online searches to 4.08%. Google’s year-on-year control on the search market was weakened by 1.04% between April 2010 and April 2011, whilst Ask was the only search engine to lose market share both month-on-month and year-on-year in April.
“After gains for Bing in March, the search barometer has swung back in Google’s favour, nearly returning to a 91% market share of search,” commented Experian Hitwise’s Research Director, Robin Goad. “If you look at the year-on-year trends, you can see that Microsoft is slowly eroding Google’s grip on the UK search market, but as the April data shows, the gains for Microsoft at the moment are relatively small, and easily lost.”
YouTube accounts for 1 in 5 visits to all social networks in the UK
YouTube was the fastest growing social network in April for the second consecutive month. The online video website increased its market share of UK Internet visits within the Social Networks and Forums category by 0.98%. YouTube now accounts for 1 in 5 visits to a social network from UK Internet users, up from 1 in 6 visits back in April 2010. YouTube is now firmly established as the 3rd biggest website in the UK, overtaking Hotmail in December 2010.
Facebook lost market share of visits for the second consecutive month in April, dropping below the 55% market share threshold for the first time since August 2010. Within the top 10 websites in Experian Hitwise’s Social Networks and Forums category Facebook was one of four websites to lose market share between March and April. Twitter, Yahoo! Answers and Tumblr were among the fast climbers of the month.
Year-on-year, eight of the top 10 social networks increased their market share of clicks, as the top networks cemented their places at the top of the industry. Notably MySpace and Club Penguin dipped in market share both month-on-month and year-on-year.
Robin Goad added: “MySpace has been on the wane for some years now, and at its current rate of decline it won’t be too long before it drops out of the top 10 social networks altogether. Not so long ago MySpace was equal to Facebook; now Facebook commands 100 times more traffic than MySpace. The social media landscape is constantly evolving, so it is important to get a heads up on which social networks are growing and which are shrinking as this can have a massive impact on the success of online marketing campaigns.”
ENDS
Alexandra Banks
Digital PR Manager, Experian Marketing Services
+44 (0) 7966102823
alexandra.banks@uk.experian.com
About Experian Hitwise
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million Web sites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.
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