Microsoft Bing and Yahoo both posted gains in the U.S. search market in March, lifting their combined market share to more than 30 percent, according to the latest numbers from the Experian Hitwise market research firm. Meanwhile, Google slipped 3 percentage points, to less than 65 percent of the market, according to the firm’s data.
It’s good news for Microsoft, which powers the Yahoo search results under a partnership between the companies.
Experian Hitwise also cited another metric suggesting that Bing and Yahoo are delivering more relevant results than their larger rival, with more than 80 percent of searches on their sites resulting in a visit to a website, compared with 66 percent for Google.
The separate monthly search numbers from comScore Networks are used as the official measure of the market the Yahoo-Microsoft search agreement. They have yet to be released for the month of March.
Update: Responding to Isaac’s request in the comments, here’s how Hitwise counted the market a year ago …
