comScore Launches qSearch 2.0, Issues New Search Data

comScore last week launched qSearch 2.0, the second generation of its search measurement service, and also released revised and new search-related data from the updated service, reports MarketingCharts. The change is in response to search’s having become more ubiquitous across the web - i.e., not confined to the major search engines per se, comScore said.

comScore’s qSearch 2.0 interface will provide clients with an in-depth view of the search universe in the US and worldwide, encompassing the following:

• Core Search Engines - the five major US search engines (Google Sites, Yahoo Sites, Microsoft Sites, Ask Network and Time Warner Network).
• Top 50 properties worldwide where search activity is observed, which includes sites such as MySpace, Baidu, and Naver.
• Major “vertical” search locations - such as eBay and Amazon in retail and Expedia in travel.
• Partner Search - searches initiated at partner sites that redirect the visitor to a search engine site.
• Cross-Channel Search - counts multiple searches when employing more than one search tab (e.g., Web, images, news) for a single search term.
• Local Search - maps, directions, and local directory listings.
• Worldwide Search - includes comprehensive reporting of worldwide search, with individual country reporting for the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, China, and Korea. Other countries will follow.

The comScore qSearch 2.0 service will provide clients with the ability to discern whether the search originates from a text box on a search engine portal, an auto-search typed in the browser’s URL line, a search from a text box on a downloaded search toolbar, local search, or a partner site, according to comScore.

July US Core Search Rankings

comScore will continue to publicly report a market share ranking for search engines known as “core search.” These market share data will use a definition comparable to comScore’s previous public search share reporting. As before, share will be determined using the five major search engines (Google Sites, Yahoo Sites, Microsoft Sites, Ask Network and Time Warner Network) but will now include the partner searches and cross-channel searches in the total for each property.

To keep this metric consistent with past reporting, searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines will not be included in the “core search” numbers.

In July, Google Sites ranked as the top core search engine with 55.2 percent share of searches among the top five engines. Yahoo Sites ranked second with 23.5 percent, followed by Microsoft Sites (12.3 percent), Ask Network (4.7 percent) and Time Warner Network (4.4 percent).

(See the MarketingCharts chart for comScore’s revised June and July “Core Search,” including downloadable Excel file, here.)

comScore Core Search Query Report

Google Sites led the market with nearly 5.5 billion search queries in July, up 2.4 percent from June and 64 percent from a year ago.

Yahoo Sites (up 0.8 percent to 2.3 billion searches) were next, followed by Microsoft Sites (up 2.8 percent to 1.2 billion), Ask Network (up 2.9 percent to 462 million), and Time Warner Network (down 0.9 percent to 436 million).

Google benefits disproportionately from affiliate searches and multi-tab searches that help raise its share of core searches relative to the share reported in qSearch 1.0, comScore said.

July Expanded Search Rankings

comScore said it would also publicly report the number of search queries conducted in the expanded search universe for the top 10 search properties.

In July, Google Sites ranked as the top property in the expanded search universe with 6.6 billion searches, driven by Google (5.5 billion) and YouTube/All Other (1.1 billion).

Yahoo Sites ranked second with 2.5 billion searches, followed by Microsoft Sites (1.3 billion), Time Warner Network (959 million), and Fox Interactive Media (587 million).

“comScore is leading the way in measuring a search landscape heavily affected by Web 2.0,” commented Dr. Magid Abraham, CEO and cofounder of comScore. “qSearch 2.0 adapts to the blurring of ‘classic search’ and enables clients and research analysts to evaluate the newly emerging players and the new types of searches that can potentially have significant monetization opportunities.”