Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) Gain on Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) in Search Share Battle

The latest data from ComScore has Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO) and Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) increasing search market share in the U.S. for March, while market leader Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) lost share for the month.

Microsoft's Bing scored the biggest increase, growing from 11.5 percent to 11.7 percent in March. Yahoo moved up slightly from 16.8 percent to 16.9 percent during the same period.

The Yahoo move is significant, if for no other reason than it stopped the six straight month losses in search share they experienced.

Google had the largest move, albeit downward, dropping from 65.5 percent search share to 65.1 percent.
 
None of this may seem that important to the casual onlooker, but in fact, with over $32 billion estimated to be spent on the Internet this year for advertising, every percentage point a company loses or gains in search share is worth millions in ad revenue, even if it's for one month.
 
Now what remains to be seen is if this is a trend or just what is an occasional hiccup by Google. Obviously Yahoo and Microsoft gained share at the expense of Google, and if that continues, it would mean millions of dollars on all sides, one way or the other.

This is why Microsoft and Yahoo don't give up on search, as even as much smaller players than Google, you're talking billions of dollars in revenue, and every little move is significant for generating significant revenue.

With advertising revenue growing larger on the Internet, the stakes in the battle are going to continue getting higher for years to come.