Double-Digit Growth in Search Seen by AOL and Ask Jeeves From Q1 to Q2 2005, While Top Search Players Google and Yahoo! Maintain Consistent Growth, Ac

Double-Digit Growth in Search Seen by AOL and Ask Jeeves From Q1 to Q2 2005, While Top Search Players Google and Yahoo! Maintain Consistent Growth, According to Nielsen//NetRatings Newly Released June 2005 Search Share Data Reports Google at 47 Percent, Yahoo! at 22 Percent and MSN at 12 Percent; My Way Search Makes Its Way Into Top Five Rankings for the First Time NEW YORK, July 21 Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, reported today Q1 and Q2 search growth for the top five search engines. AOL and Ask Jeeves rose 15 and 16 percent, respectively, in the number of searches conducted, while Google and Yahoo! maintained single digit growth (see Table 1). Overall, search as a category saw a five percent increase in the number of searches conducted from Q1 to Q2 during 2005. "While growth in searches was modest among the 'Big Three' search engines, the fourth and fifth biggest search engines, AOL and Ask Jeeves, grew three times as fast," said Ken Cassar, director of strategic analysis, Nielsen//NetRatings. "While it's far too early to say that Google needs to watch its back, a resurgent AOL makes the game a lot more interesting." Table 1. Search Growth for Top 5 Search Engines, Q1-Q2 2005 Search Engine Q1 2005 Q2 2005 Percent Change Searches (000) Searches (000) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Google 5,737,097 6,088,343 6% --------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 2,576,473 2,798,123 9% --------------------------------------------------------------------- MSN 1,659,235 1,590,049 -4% --------------------------------------------------------------------- AOL 562,816 646,641 15% --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ask Jeeves 216,656 250,869 16% --------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Total 12,263,765 12,849,121 5% --------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, July 2005 June 2005 Search Share Data Released The newly released June 2005 MegaView Search report ranks Google No. 1 with 47 percent of all searches conducted online, Yahoo! at 22 percent and MSN at 12 percent (see Table 2). AOL Search held five percent of all searches, and for the first time, My Way Search made its way into the top five rankings, garnering two percent of all searches. "My Way's unique anti-advertising value proposition resonates with a small, but growing market niche," said Cassar. "As online publishers enjoy the growing demand for advertising inventory and continue to create more ad slots within a finite number of Web pages, this disaffected minority may become a force that the major players need to contend with." Table 2. Top Search Engines by Share of Searches, June 2005 (U.S., Home & Work) Search Engine Searches (000) Share of Searches -------------------------------------------------------------- Google Search 2,032,227 47% -------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Search 965,644 22% -------------------------------------------------------------- MSN Search 540,687 12% -------------------------------------------------------------- AOL Search 237,408 5% -------------------------------------------------------------- My Way Search 78,821 2% -------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, July 2005 Vertical Growth Drivers -- Image Search on the Rise Image search was the main vertical driving the growth experienced by four of the top five search engines during Q2 as compared to Q1. MSN saw the largest increase in its image searches with a 90 percent spike (see Table 3). AOL's image search soared 74 percent, Yahoo!'s rose 55 percent, and Google's jumped 12 percent. Ask Jeeves' growth was fueled mainly by its news searches, which increased 42 percent. Table 3. Main Drivers of Search Growth for Top 5 Search Engines, Q1-Q2 2005 Provider/Vertical Q1 2005 Q2 2005 Percent Searches (000) Searches (000) Change ------------------------------------------------------------------- MSN Image Search 9,305 17,694 90% ------------------------------------------------------------------- AOL Image Search 5,718 9,935 74% ------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Image Search 92,403 143,643 55% ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ask Jeeves News Search 450 637 42% ------------------------------------------------------------------- Google Image Search 482,629 541,843 12% ------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, July 2005 About MegaView Search Service MegaView Search service is based on the Nielsen//NetRatings' MegaPanel®, which provides search providers and Internet publishers with the most comprehensive intelligence to develop more efficient advertising opportunities by providing marketers insight into how consumers navigate through the Web. By combining these survey results with the actual surfing habits of the respondents, search providers and Internet publishers are able to better understand how consumers are searching online. MegaView Search was the second product introduced from MegaPanel®, an online syndicated suite of services that provides comprehensive Internet market research for key vertical industries including financial services, search, online retail, travel and local markets. About Nielsen//NetRatings NetRatings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTRT - News), a global leader in Internet media and market research, provides the Nielsen//NetRatings services, which set the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, and is the industry's premier source for online media and market intelligence. Covering 70 percent of the world's Internet usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services offer syndicated Internet and digital media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Famous Quotes Garden Center Quotation Ring Gatlinburg Cabins Recipes Recipes Famous Quotes