When it comes to optimizing a website and making sure a site is on target with what top search engines are looking for, we are often asked the question “Which search engines are the most popular this year?“. Google and Bing together hold almost 80% of all Internet searches with Google, without question, being the most popular engine with a market share of 65%. Yes Google is a power house and shows no signs of weakening.

Today we will review the 5 top engines used by most Internet users around world.

=1= Google

Spelling and/or logo = Capitalized first letter only with specific colors applied to each letter (blue/red/orange/blue/green/red)

Year started = 1997 (California)

% of all web searches = 65%

About 65% of all Internet searches are done using Google’s search engine known as Google Search. That is an incredible market share. Even though lots of computers sold come with different browsers (like Bing) as their default search engine, most people will use Google to do their searches. This is why we always speak of Google when discussing SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The reason they are continuing to capture most of the web searches is simple: Google provides the best results with no fuss. They are champions at tweaking their indexation algorithm to keep up with trends and Internet users’ preferences with the sole purpose of rendering the most accurate results.

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=2= Bing

Spelling = In text capitalized first letter only, logo is all lower case with specific orange color

Year started = 2009

% of all web searches = 21%

Owned and operated by Microsof, Bing is the replacement to the prior Microsoft’s search engine known as Live Search. Prior to Live Search there were MSN Search and Window Live Search. Bing has been trying hard to get closer to the level of Google but they are still behind with about 21% of all searches.

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=3= Yahoo!

Spelling = All caps with custom font, purple color and finishes with an exclamation mark

Year started = 1994

% of all web searches = 12.5%

Yahoo! owns 12.5% of all web searches and, since the end of 2011, it has been powered by Bing. Most of its appeal is its great email email programs, one of the most popular (if not the most) email systems to date. Lots of changes have been happening in Yahoo! headquarters in the past 24 months and the future of its search engine is unclear.

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=4= Ask

Spelling = Capitalizes first letter only, white on red when in logo

Year started = 1996

% of all web searches = 3%

Ask.com started off as Ask Jeeves and somehow is holding the 4th position in top search engines worldwide receiving about 3% of all searches. If you are not familiar with ask.com  it is a question and answer based website that covers all topics from “How old is  Tom Hanks?” to “How did the universe start?” and “What is Dr. Seuss’ birth name?”.  At 3% of all web searches, Ask is not very relevant and many question the quality and accuracy of the answers provided on the Ask site.

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=5= AOL

Spelling = Capitalized first letter only and finishes with a period

Year started = 1983

% of all web searches = 1%

AOL for many is a thing of the past (Remember “America Online”?) but, with over three decades of history behind it, it continues to be one of the top search engines in the world. Saying this, it only represents less than 1% of searches which is why, as a site owner interested in Search Engine Optimization, you should focus on “pleasing” Google, Bing or Yahoo! and not worry about Aol or Ask.

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In conclusion, it is without any hesitation that we advice all of our customers to focus first and foremost on optimizing their website for Google. Google keeps its algorithm secret but still offers lots of tips and recommendations free for anyone interested in SEO to read and apply. Simply Google it!

You can also watch our quick webinar on this topic.