Different countries, different customs: Google doesn't dominate everywhere

In the summer of 2013, AltaVista, one of the first search engines, went offline, marking the loss of a piece of internet history. AltaVista's exit highlighted how challenging the market has become for competitors of Google. In Germany, for example, Google reigns supreme in online search: According to a survey by SEO United, Google's market share in May 2013 was a significant 90.3% - and that doesn't even include the numerous partners in the Google Search Network. Far behind: Bing.com with 2.6%. Yahoo, another "internet pioneer," plays a negligible role as a search engine (0.9%).

However, what applies to Germany does not apply to other countries - and Google is not always No. 1 everywhere. Who are the players in the international market, where are the opportunities for other search engines, and who has managed to surpass Google?

Europe: Russia Dances to Its Own Tune with Yandex

Across Europe, Google also claims market dominance. According to the online service StatCounter, Google currently holds a 93.1% market share in Europe, followed by Bing (2.49%) and the Russian search engine Yandex (1.29%). Behind Bing is a Microsoft alternative that replaced MSN Live Search in 2009. Like Google, Bing offers services including maps (Bing Maps), image and video search, and news search. Paid search results are delivered via Bing Ads in the globally established Yahoo Bing Network.

The exception within Europe is Russia, the only European country where Google does not hold dominance: Here, the local search engine Yandex has a significantly higher market share at 62%, compared to Google, which represents 26% of the Russian market. Like Bing, Yandex offers the ability to display ads in the form of paid search results (Yandex.Direct) and includes services like webmaster tools, image and video search, or Yandex.Maps. Searches on Yandex can currently be conducted in Russian, English, Turkish, and Ukrainian. However, Yandex announced plans to further expand internationally.

But why is Yandex more successful than Google in Russia? The most commonly held view is that Yandex handles Cyrillic script and the structure of the Russian language (such as the inflectional endings of Russian verbs) better than Google. Another possible explanation is the MatrixNet technology implemented by Yandex in 2009. MatrixNet allows Yandex to excel in machine learning: Based on previous searches, Yandex "learns" which factors are crucial for optimal search results for specific queries. Of course, Google also utilizes machine learning - however, the MatrixNet technology is considered particularly effective and complex.

Asia: Google's Withdrawal from China

The general dominance of Google with 87.34% market share applies to the entire Asian continent. The exception in Asia is China, a market from which Google withdrew in 2010. According to the web analytics service CNZZ, Google now represents no significant factor in the Chinese search engine landscape, with a 2.88% market share. Market leaders are the Chinese search engine Baidu (63.16%) and Qihoo's 2012 launched search engine 360 Search (18.23%). By the way, Bing also plays a role in China through another partnership in addition to the Yahoo Bing Network: English results at Baidu are delivered via Bing.

What lies behind the Chinese giant Baidu? Founded in 1999, Baidu has its headquarters in Beijing, China. While Baidu indexes "only" over 800 million web pages (compared to about 50 billion by Google), it is believed that the fewer pages indexed by Baidu result from the limitations of its crawler (the so-called "Baidu Spider"). As tests have shown, the Baidu Spider only downloads the first 100 kilobytes of web pages and does not index all subpages. Webmasters who want their website indexed by Baidu must comply with censorship implemented by the government, as pages violating these guidelines are not listed by Baidu.

But why did Google leave the lucrative Chinese market behind? In 2010, Google exited the Chinese market and redirected all queries through the site Google.cn to the Hong Kong site. Google cited hacking attacks and censorship imposed by the Chinese government as the official reasons. However, a closer look at Google's history in the Chinese market reveals other factors likely influencing its withdrawal. Baidu had a decisive advantage from the start: Under Chinese law, Baidu is allowed to integrate an MP3 search, enabling users to download MP3s illegally. Google, as a U.S. company, is not afforded this right. The MP3 search is considered one of Baidu's greatest success factors.

While Google was represented in the Chinese market, it was able to claim a market share of between 30% and 40% despite the difficult conditions, while Baidu claimed around 60%.

Africa: Google's Effort to Enhance Internet Usage

In Africa, too, Google is by far the most used search engine, with over 90% market share, followed by Bing, Yahoo, and Ask.com. In Arabic-speaking countries, such as Egypt, there are additional search engines that transcribe Latin scripts into Arabic because the Arabic alphabet was only supported by a few devices until a few years ago. Due to improving technical conditions and input options on Arabic devices, however, these search engines now represent only a very small portion of the market.

Interestingly, in May 2013, Google announced a plan to establish itself as an operator of a mobile data network in Africa. The backdrop is the still very low distribution and use of the internet in Africa (in 2012, the internet penetration rate in Africa was 15.6%, compared to 83% in Germany). Google aims to help people in poorer regions access the internet. The endeavor could work in Africa: Over 70% of the African population owns a mobile phone, and the usage rate is steadily increasing, while the mobile network is not sufficiently developed. Google's initiative will certainly not be entirely altruistic: Building its own networks can increase the number of potential Google users, strengthen the brand name in affected regions, and attract new advertisers.

America: Google, Bing, and Yahoo!

Both in North and South America, Google maintains a dominant position, although there is a significant difference in market share between the two continents: According to StatCounter, Google had a 97.13% market share in South America in September 2013, as high as in no other continent. Search engines like Bing or Yahoo have little chance of establishing themselves against the giant Google here. In North America, they fare slightly better: According to the American statistics service comScore, Google had a market share of 66.9% in September 2013, followed by Bing (18%) and Yahoo (11.3%). Thus, Google consistently hovers just below 70%, while Bing continuously gains market share since its launch.