Google Wins, MSN Loses in March

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Nearly one in two Internet searches now takes place using a Google search engine, according to a new report from audience measurement firm Nielsen//NetRatings.

In March, the percentage of all Internet search at Google grew from 47 to 49 percent, Nielsen//NetRatings found. At that pace, Google will eclipse the 50th percentile, or majority milestone, in a number of weeks.

No. 2 search engine provider Yahoo finished March with a 22 percent share of the Internet search market, up about a percentage point, according to the report.

Meanwhile, No. 3 Microsoft’s MSN Search share dropped from 14 to 11 percent.

The reason for MSN’s miserable March, and whether the customers who are no longer using MSN were instead at the Web sites of Google or Yahoo, couldn’t immediately be learned from Nielsen.

The company did say, in a press release describing the report, that Yahoo and Google gains were based on their newer features, like video search and previewing Web pages.