Google needs to focus on search again because the quality of the results have slipped over the last year and take too long to display.

But even with all that, I just can't get beyond the ugly homepage UIs for MSN and Yahoo. There is simply too much crud. They give me a headache. That alone will keep me from using them. How can MS and Yahoo have not learned that less can be more?

If users like me can't get beyond the barrage of 2.5"x2.5" ads all over the screen, the quality of results won't matter.

Agreed. A big part of the problem is how crummy the UIs are for Yahoo and MSN. The information/crud ratio is way too low. I keep trying to get over it, but I can't.

This data only focuses on US search engine users. If I remember correct, a substantial portion of the search engine user revenue is from non-US countries (for Google it is 42% in their latest quarter). Of course, translation of page impressions to revenue is a different topic altogether. I wonder how the numbers will stack up for the overall universe.

As an aside, here is an interesting statistic (from a close friend who maintains the Google web server, i.e., the main 'plain vanilla' homepage).

Orkut gets more page impressions everyday compared to the main Google webpage. Interesting, no?

Raj
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MSN is definitely sucking wind, but it's interesting to see how badly Yahoo is doing too.

Paul, the Japan numbers for both MSN Japan and Yahoo! Japan are down too.

IAJapan and Impress co-publish the major annual survey of the Japanese Internet/mobile world (in Japanese, it is called the "Internet Hakusho" or white paper). There's no English page for the 2006 survey yet, which just came out last week but here's some numbers for you:

(of a survey of 1705 who were not restricted to selecting just one choice)

Yahoo! Japan still dominates with 89.9% reach (down from 92.1% in 2005)

Google JP is up to 71.6% (from 63.3% in 2005)

MSN JP is down to 27.2% (from 35.2% in 2005, ouch)

NTT/goo is up, Infoseek is slighty up, Excite JP is down, and that's about it for the majors.

When restricted to having to select only one search engine, the same 1705 broke down like this:

Y!JP 52% (down from 58.7% in '05)

G JP 31.7% (up from 26.5% in '05)

goo 5.8% (up from 1.9% in '05)

infoseek 3.5% (up from 1.8% in '05)

MSN JP 3.0% (down from 6.4% in '05)

So, yeah, ouch for MSN Japan too.

Paul, found the home page of the Japan survey publisher's site (in Japanese at least.)

http://home.impress.co.jp/reference/2257.htm