Nielsen - NetRatings announced that Google accounted for 50 percent of all searches conducted in April, followed by Yahoo! and MSN, with 22 and 11 percent, respectively. Year over year, Google gained three percentage points in market share, while Yahoo! remained flat and MSN dipped slightly.

“Google has passed a significant milestone in April, garnering half of the searches in the U.S.,” said Michael Lanz, vice president, search industry solutions, Nielsen - NetRatings. “We can continue to expect new features, improved functionality and rewards programs from the top search providers as they compete to win consumers’ loyalty.