Instead of saying that we are going to search for something on the Internet, we tend to use a much more specific and targeted expression “google” implying that whatever we search for we will do it through the Google website. That’s how synonymous the American tech giant’s search engine has become with our daily web searches, and it’s reflected in Google’s market share. More than 90% of online searches over the past decade have been conducted on Google Search, but a surprising shift in trend suggests the balance of power may have just begun to shift.
The latest statistics from the Statcounter show that Google’s global search market share has fallen below 90% for each of the past three months. Specifically, it was 89.34% in October, 89.99% in November and 89.73% in December.
At over 89% Google’s search engine still has a very commanding market share, but what’s most interesting about this development is that it’s the first time Google hasn’t held a 90% market share in three months since the first quarter of 2015 — almost exactly 10 years ago.
While you can assume that ChatGPT grabbed some of Google’s habits, statistics show that traditional search engine competitors benefited the most from this trend change. Information is limited, but it appears that οι BingYandex and Yahoo!, received a small boost. Bing was second in market share in December, albeit with just under 4% of online searches.
A potential shift in customer focus wouldn’t be great news for Google. The company is still embroiled in a long-running and high-profile antitrust case, with the US Department of Justice accusing Google of monopolistic behavior. Part of Google’s defense was to point out that users have a choice and are free to exercise it. These statistics could add some extra weight to that argument.
Source: myphone.gr
