Google Holds Large, Vulnerable Lead in Mobile Search
Google has displayed a virtually untouchable hold on the traditional, PC-based online search market, regardless of who you ask. Recent figures released by Nielsen Mobile show that Google’s lead in the mobile search market is just as strong, but probably not nearly as insurmountable.
During the first quarter of 2008, Google took 61% of the mobile search market, followed by Yahoo! with 18%, and MSN with 5%.
This compares to Nielsen Online’s most recent online search rankings for May: Google with 62.0%, Yahoo! with 17.5%, and MSN/Windows Live Search with 9.7%.
However, what seems to make Google’s mobile search leadership position a bit more vulnerable is the satisfaction users express. An underwhelming 44% of Google mobile search users rated their satisfaction between 8 to 10, compared to 40% for Yahoo!.
Still, Google users conduct 9.0 searches per month, compared to 6.7 searches per month conducted by Yahoo! mobile search users.
Sixty-five percent of Google users were male, compared to 63% of Yahoo! users.
For both Google and Yahoo!, Information was the most searched category (33%/33% respectively), followed by Local Listings (29%/24%), and Web Sites/Navigation (27%/26%).
Mobile search will continue to grow in significance to these traditional search engines, so any early leadership positions and faithfulness created in its devoted users will make for strong foundations to build upon.
Slightly threatening black horses that could gobble some small portions of market share are services that offer text and voice-based search and/or question and answer. ChaCha, for one, offers a text-based question and answer service. The mobile search game is still in its nascent form, so less traditional approaches offer an interesting aspect of the race to follow.
Sources:
http://www.nielsenmobile.com/html/press%20releases/
GoogleandYahooSearchData.html
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/pr/pr_080519.pdf
