OK, so it wouldn’t do to make too much of one month’s worth of data. But credit where it is due: Microsoft in June finally managed to take back a small amount of market share from Google in the US search business, according to comScore.
Its share of search queries had declined steadily over the previous 12 months, dropping two percentage points or so to a low of 8.5 per cent in May. So an increase back to 9.2 per cent has at least stopped the rot – for now.
Could this be a sign that the new Live Search Cashback service is having an effect? (I’ve asked Microsoft for more information on this, will update if it’s forthcoming.)
Of course, for Steve Ballmer it still looks like a case of far too little, and far too late. The odds must be on him pitching another new offer for Yahoo’s search business (or even the whole company) before that company’s shareholder meeting on August 1st.
