Who shouldn't be taken lightly in the Search Space?

Here are the top 5 search providers, as ranked by Comscore for March 2010. Just for fun I’ve added % growth since January 2009.

1.	Google	13,996,000,000	19%
2.	Yahoo	2,839,000,000	-5%
3.	Microsoft	1,883,000,000	58%
4.	Ask	719,000,000	11%
5.	craigslist	685,000,000	38%

I have been discussing with friends how though Microsoft waits to gear up on several fronts (developing secretly, waiting and watching), its a fierce competitor once in the space it enters. Just look at the  right hand column a 58% per cent growth is mind boggling. Smart strategies include in making Bing official on Yahoo and making Bing the official search engine on Windows as well as iPhones (Cover (60% of the mobile space). For Google and Apple getting things ugly didn't help but has given Microsoft the opportunity to propel forth forward in its penetration strategies.  Google is trying hard to diversify into gaming, TV and the mobile space the question is ...Is it too late? Or will it be over-spending and long term low return on investment. Personally I think the idea is how good can you leverage and converge search in those areas and how will you motivate people to use you. 

Classifieds advertising has always been vying space and a $40 billion plus market, it after all burns down to people finding a good bargain and a good trade hence ...craigslist is a not surprise on the search space here; I wonder what would happen if they did search as their primary business? Another surprising fact of this contender is Craigslist surpasses eharmony.com, match.com in the personal ad section. From a UI point of view craigslist is a anomaly for the feel-good designer but an example of a perfect functional site. A bare bone look and feel and the users still hunt for what they need. A 38 percent up ward growth from 2009 means something is being done right in spite of all the legal suits. 

Anyway my observations for the day!

Sam Kurien