If you think it doesn’t matter what the default search engine is on a phone, then you should check out the data from Chitika: the company said that more than 96% of Apple iPhone users search with Google.
The Google App, one of the more popular entries in the App Store, accounts for 8.68% of Google’s iPhone traffic. The toolbar in Safari sends 49%, and 42.24% comes from the Google homepage and other minor sources.
If you consider the Safari search toolbar and the standalone search app on the iPhone two separate products, then Google accounts for the top two searching products on Apple’s platform. That comes despite the fact that iPhone users can switch their default search to Yahoo or Bing.
Throw in that the search giant is seeing traffic explode on the Android platform and the company is sitting quite pretty. But the other search companies are not just going to sit still and let Google eat their lunch.
The mobile space is expected to exceed the desktop market in a few years and many search engines believe there is room to displace Goog from the top. Yahoo is making a big push with mobile, as it has beefed up its search and put mobile in mind for all of its new products.
The upcoming Microsoft Windows Phone 7 will have Bing as the default search engine and that won’t be adjustable because Microsoft said it is core to the platform’s experience. Users will be able to go to Google.com or any other search engine directly from the browser though.
The carriers are also playing a stronger role in which search engine customers use, as Verizon and AT&T have struck deals with Microsoft and Yahoo. That’s why a device like the Samsung Fascinate come with Bing as the default search engine.
It will be fun to see if the competitors can put a dent in the search giant’s market share.
[Via Chitika]