Microsoft Search Share: It's Not the Size That Counts?

As steady and reliable as a McDonalds hamburger, comScore’s monthly search metrics–and about as exciting. February’s search rankings were much like January’s, which were much like December’s, which were…. Well, you see where this is headed.

Succinctly speaking, Google’s share of Internet searches in the U.S.: large. Everyone else’s: small (click on chart below).

According to the Web metrics outfit, Google (GOOG) claimed 63.3 percent of all U.S. queries in February, up 41.6 percent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Yahoo (YHOO) took 21 percent, down from 26 percent year-over-year for the month. And Microsoft (MSFT)? Well, try as it may, the company just can’t seem to make any headway in search. At all. It’s share of February search queries fell to 8.2 percent from 8.5 percent, a new 12-month low.

As Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said back in February, “Search and advertising, we are a small share….It’s all about Google. Some people say to me, why don’t you just give up? This is a huge opportunity. You give up, you can’t get back in the game….But we are up against incredible odds. They have share, we don’t have share.”

When’s that Yahoo deal going to happen, again?