Search Ratings: Google Gains, MSN Slips, Yahoo Stays Same

Nielsen//NetRatings reported Monday April data for the top U.S. search providers. Google captured 55.2% of all internet searches, Yahoo was second with 21.9% and MSN/Windows Live took third spot with 9%. Google logged 3.77 billion queries in April, up 42.1% from April 2006, while Yahoo logged 1.5 billion searches, up 28.1% from the same period last year. Microsoft's 9% was down from 10.1% in March, Google was up from 53.7%, while Yahoo gained slightly in April going from 21.8% to 21.9%. Rounding up the top five, AOL slipped from 5.8% to 5.4%, while Ask.com was stead at 1.8%. Google shares gained $0.41 to $470.73 Monday, Yahoo shares fell $0.27 to $29.48, and Microsoft shares were up $0.17 to $31.

Sources: Press release, MarketWatch, AP, ZDNet
Commentary: Google Unveils "Universal Search ," New Features • April Online Search : Yahoo Gains, Outpaces Google • Microsoft-Yahoo! Merger Wouldn't Vanquish Google
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Google Inc. (GOOG), Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), AOL owner Time Warner Inc. (TWX), Ask.com owner IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)
Conference call transcript: Google Q1 2007, Yahoo! Q1 2007, News Corporation F3Q07, IAC/InterActiveCorp Q1 2007

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