Yahoo’s decision to become the default search provider for Firefox has paid off in spades. According to new data released by StatCounter, the search firm has achieved its highest search market share in the U.S. since 2009.
The Sunnyvale, California-based internet company controlled 10.4 percent of U.S. search share in December, compared to 8.6 percent in November. Google’s search share, by comparison, dropped to 75.2 percent. Bing saw a very slight gain during the same time period.
All of this comes after Yahoo took over as the default web search provider for Firefox users in the U.S., a spot previously held by Google. It’s not clear how concerned Google should be about these developments, though: the company still controls more than 3 quarters of the search market in the U.S.
Yahoo’s gain is good new for Microsoft, too. The two companies are part of a search alliance, and Yahoo is actually using Bing’s technology to power its search efforts.
