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Google gains advertiser share relative to Yahoo, MSN

Search Engine Advertiser Update – Q108
April 16, 2008

The number of companies advertising on the top three search engines increased considerably in Q1. Both January and February saw strong growth in the overall number of search engine advertisers, followed by modest growth in March. This represents the first significant sign of expansion in advertiser activity since last May. Most of this was due to a large increase in the number of active Google advertisers.

The trends in advertiser share which persisted throughout the latter half of 2007 largely reversed themselves in Q108. The biggest gainer this quarter was Google, who increased their advertiser share from 72.7% to 77.0%. Yahoo ended a long winning streak with its first decline in seven months, dropping from 34.5% to 30.1%. MSN held its ground, increasing slightly from 11.1% to 11.4%.

Despite this short-term shift in fortunes, Google lost ground to its two major competitors over the trailing twelve months. We estimate that MSN has increased its year-over-year advertiser base by 11%, Yahoo by 5%, and Google by only 4%.

While suggestive, our advertiser counts are estimates only and should be interpreted in light of other data. These figures represent the net effect of both new advertisers and advertisers lost through attrition.

Charts:
1. Share of Advertisers by Search Engine
2. Monthly Change in Advertiser Count
3. Relative Advertiser Count vs. 12 Months Ago

Download PDF with all charts and tables (free registration required)

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