Google Sites top property with 5.9 billion core searches

Google Sites remained the top search property among the core search engines in November, according to figures from comScore.

Some 5.9 billion core searches were conducted via Google during the month, representing 58.6 per cent share of the search market, virtually the same as in October.

Yahoo Sites ranked second with 22.4 per cent, followed by Microsoft Sites with 9.8 per cent and Ask Network with 4.6 per cent.

Read more: vnunet.com 

Labels: Ask, microsoft, search, sites, top, Web, Yahoo

Outsmarting Google isn't easy. So on the issue of user privacy, Google's competitors are trying a different tactic: knowing less.

Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT) announced Monday that it's introducing new measures on its Live Search application that would erase identifying data from search logs 18 months after it's recorded and will allow users to surf sites with Microsoft-provided ads without having their behavior tracked.

Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO) plans to make all search data anonymous after 13 months, according to a spokesman, and InterActiveCorp's (nasdaq: IACI) Ask.com announced last week that it will be launching AskEraser, a search option that erases all history of Ask searches. Microsoft and Ask.com issued a joint statement over the weekend calling on members of the search industry to meet and discuss ways they can work together to define privacy principles and protect user information.

Full article: forbes.com 

Labels: Ask, microsoft, Yahoo

Although the five major online search engines have improved search safety, four percent of all search results link to dangerous websites, according to a report from McAfee's SiteAdvisor. Searches on Yahoo are the most risky, AOL the safest, the "The State of Search Engine Safety" report indicates.

With the exception of Yahoo, the percentage of risky sponsored links on all major search engines has improved, dropping from more than eight percent last year to about seven percent this year, according to the report. Google, in particular, has "taken small steps" to improve the safety of the sponsored links on its landing pages, said Mark Maxwell, a senior vice president with SiteAdvisor.

Full article: scmagazine.com 

Labels: AOL, Ask, McAfee, MSN, SiteAdvisor, Yahoo