By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
New industry data out on Tuesday
showed Yahoo Inc may have started gaining share in the Web
search ad market against Google Inc even as Google's share of
search audience inched up.
One study by RBC Capital using data on ad-buying trends
from Web search marketing firm SearchIgnite shows Yahoo
outpacing Google in spending on search advertising, ad
viewership and click-through rates during the first quarter.
Meanwhile, a report from research firm comScore showed
Google gaining share against Yahoo in the overall Web search
market in March, but gave no insight into how Google was doing
converting Web searchers into ad viewers.
Yahoo's first-quarter share of search spending by selected
advertisers rose to 23 percent of the market, up from historic
levels of 18 percent to 19 percent, SearchIgnite said.
Google's dominant search advertising share dipped to 71.1
percent from 74.9 percent the previous quarter, it said.
"Yahoo increased its share of wallet meaningfully for the
first time in several quarters," RBC analyst Ross Sandler said
in a note to investors, referring to the SearchIgnite data.
Shares of Yahoo gained 36 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $28.16.
Google dipped $1.15 to $450.51.
Google is set to report quarterly results on Thursday as
investors debate whether the company's explosive growth in
search advertising has begun being hobbled by a slowing
economy. Yahoo reports quarterly results next Tuesday.
Yahoo is conducting a two-week test of whether to use
Google's system to sell Web search ads instead of its own.
Yahoo has been seeking partners to help it fend off a takeover
by Microsoft Corp, or at least force a higher bid.
MIXED PICTURE
Collectively, the reports paint a mixed picture of how well
the Web search business is holding up in the face of weakening
U.S. economic trends. Because both reports offer only a partial
glimpse of aspects of the market, analysts cautioned against
using the data to predict revenue trends for Google or Yahoo.
SearchIgnite places search advertising using Google, Yahoo,
Microsoft and other search ad systems on behalf of buyers in
retail, financial services and other industries. As such, the
study does not necessarily capture overall market trends.
ComScore data for March shows Google gaining ground against
it top U.S. rivals, continuing a roughly two-year-old trend.
Its share of search results rose to 59.8 percent, up 0.6 of a
percentage point over February, comScore said on Tuesday.
Yahoo's share fell by 0.3 of a point to 21.3 percent in
March versus February. Microsoft dipped 0.2 percent to 9.4
percent in March; Time Warner Inc's AOL slipped 0.4 percent to
4.8 percent while Ask rose 0.1 percent to 4.7 percent.
SearchIgnite showed Yahoo had percentage increases in
year-over-year spending, audience impressions and click-through
rates versus Google. But this partly reflected an easy
comparison to a weak 2007 first quarter, when Yahoo delayed
introduction of its long-awaited Panama search ad system.
Citigroup said comScore data shows overall U.S. search
market activity grew 18 percent in March, recovering from a
weak February, when the market grew 15 percent. The same data
showed 27 percent growth in the U.S. search market in the
middle of 2007, Citi analyst Mark Mahaney wrote to investors.
"(The Law of) Large Numbers and PC Search maturity are
primary factors, we believe," he said in a research note.
(Editing by Braden Reddall)
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