Yahoo vs. Google: The Battle for Online Domination Heats Up

Market Watch

June 14, 2005

Yahoo vs. Google: The Battle for Online Domination Heats Up

WASHINGTON, Jun 14, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The two heavyweight fighters of the online world, Google and Yahoo, remain locked in a titanic battle for supremacy, with each dominant in their key areas, according to a new survey from ChangeWave Research.

ChangeWave's survey of 1,440 professionals showed Google is not only the primary online search engine by a huge margin (78% Google; 14% Yahoo), it is also the most popular toolbar in home browsers/applications (Google 38%; Yahoo 28%).

Yahoo, however, is far and away the most popular home page site, and it's also the primary website for online news and information (Yahoo 32%; MSN 10%; CNN 8%; Google 5%). Importantly, more than three times as many respondents use Yahoo email (18%) as use Google Gmail (5%).

(To receive the complete "Yahoo vs. Google" report, send an email to [email protected].)

ChangeWave's "Yahoo vs. Google" survey results show that the two online champions are embroiled in a slugfest across multiple product/service areas in their high-stakes contest for domination of the Internet. The results suggest the fight is far from over.

Both search engine behemoths are nearly identical in annual revenue: Yahoo generated $4 billion and Google $3.8 billion over the past 12 months. Yahoo still racks up the higher gross profit. However, based on Google's strong 2005 stock performance, the savants on Wall Street are betting on Google to outperform Yahoo and the rest of the online pack.

Google's advantage becomes evident when we turn to online usage trends. When asked if they use more Google products/services than a year ago, 52% of respondents said yes, compared to 1% who said no. Yahoo's numbers, while also good, weren't nearly as impressive, with 31% saying they use more Yahoo products/services this year and 8% less.

Looking ahead, 38% of respondents said they'd use more of Google next year and only 1% less, while 20% said they'd use more of Yahoo next year and 4% less.

In terms of user satisfaction, the survey found Yahoo (94% Satisfied; 6% Unsatisfied) nearly even with Google (97% Satisfied; 3% Unsatisfied). But, when the question turned to overall favorite website, Yahoo (32%) beat Google (17%) by nearly a two-to-one margin.

Other critical aspects to the Yahoo vs. Google fight, particularly the growing shift to paid services, will be the focus of a future ChangeWave survey.

Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, ChangeWave Research identifies market trends through surveys of thousands of professionals in more than 20 industries.