Russian search engine Yandex and internet auction site eBay have more of a share in the European search market than long-standing search engines MSN and Yahoo!, figures from analyst firm ComScore have shown.
Figures for March 2008 show that while Google is still the out-and-out leader in the search space, cornering 79.2pc of the European search market, eBay and Russian site Yandex occupy the No 2 and No 3 positions respectively. EBay has 3.9pc of the market while Yandex has 2.2pc.
Yahoo! sites and Microsoft sites have 2pc and 1.9pc of the market respectively, putting them at fourth and fifth place in the rankings.
Elsewhere in the top 10, search sites belonging to two Polish properties – Nasza-Klasa.pl and QXL Ricardo – proved popular with searchers and attracted 1.3pc and 1.2pc of the European search audience in March. This places these Polish properties in sixth and seventh place, ahead of the nearest competition AOL and the Ask Network, which have 0.9pc and 0.8pc respectively.
Another Russian search company, Rambler Media, rounded out the top 10 with 0.5pc market share.
“With nearly 80pc of all searches conducted in March, Google is far and away the leading search property in Europe,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice-president, ComScore.
“However, we are seeing key local players show leadership in eastern Europe where English is spoken less than in western markets. With Russia’s online population now the fastest growing in Europe, it is likely that some of these local search engines will continue to gain traction and market share.”
By Niall Byrne
