Is Google Losing Its Grip? Search Market Share Drops Below 90% for the First Time Since 2015!

Google’s Search Market Share Falls Below 90%

In a surprising development, Google’s global search market share dipped below 90% for the first time since 2015, as reported by Statcounter. This decline occurred during the last three months of 2024, with shares recorded at 89.34% in October, 89.99% in November, and 89.73% in December.

Historical Context

The last period when Google’s search market share was under 90% was in 2015, with shares of 89.62% in January, 89.47% in February, and 89.52% in March.

Why This Matters

As the old saying goes, one’s a dot, two’s a line, and three’s a trend. We are clearly witnessing a trend with Google losing search market share.

Analyzing the Drop

Most regions showed consistent performance for Google’s search market share, with Asia being a significant factor in the overall decline.

In the U.S., Google’s search market share peaked at 90.37% in November but fell to 87.39% in December. Throughout 2024, the share remained between 86% and 88%.

The Bigger Picture

Google has faced increasing scrutiny over the effectiveness of its search results, despite maintaining a dominant share of 90-92% for nearly a decade due to its illegal monopoly status.

• Are we starting to see a shift of users towards other search engines? This will be an important trend to monitor in the coming months.

Where Are Users Going?

Statcounter primarily tracks search engines like Microsoft Bing, Yandex, Yahoo, and Baidu, as well as a category labeled “other” that includes engines like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia. Bing, Yandex, and Yahoo have all gained some of Google’s lost market share, with Bing hovering around 4% for the last five months of 2024.

Dig deeper: ChatGPT’s search surge: 1% market share predicted by 2025

Was This a Temporary Drop?

Earlier this year, there was significant excitement in the search marketing community when it appeared that Google had lost a substantial amount of search market share. However, that data was later revised. In this case, the drop seems credible as Google consistently remained below 90% in the last quarter of 2024.

For more detailed data, visit Statcounter’s Search Engine Market Share Worldwide.