Google Updates

It’s become a monthly ritual with few surprises. Web audience measuring firms report numbers for Web search traffic in the United States. Yahoo does well. Google does a lot better. Microsoft and others barely hold on, or worse.
It’s no different this month. Nielsen/NetRatings said that the number of searches conducted on Yahoo grew by 18.6 percent in May, compared with the same month last year. Pretty good stuff, until you consider that the number of searches conducted on Google grew by 44 percent, topping 4 billion in a single month for the first time. That leaves Google with 56.3 percent of all searches, a nearly 3-1 advantage over Yahoo, and a 7-1 advantage over Microsoft, the No. 3 in search.
Hitwise, another measuring firm, says Google’s lead is even greater: 65.1 percent, to Yahoo’s 20.9 percent and Microsoft’s 8.4 percent.
The numbers go some way toward explaining why some people suggest that Yahoo should simply outsource its search business to Google.