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Shoppers Connect With Brick and Mortar Stores Through Search NEW YORK, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, today announced that Google accounted for 50 percent of all searches conducted in April, followed by Yahoo! and MSN, with 22 and 11 percent, respectively (see Table 1). 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. There is also opportunity for smaller providers to fulfill targeted search needs," he continued. Table 1: Search Share among Top 3 Search Providers, April 2006 (U.S.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Search Provider Apr-05 Search Apr-06 Search Percentage Share Share Point Change -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Google Search 47% 50% +3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Search 22% 22% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MSN Search 12% 11% -1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, May 2006 The top two search engines showed robust growth over the past year. Google Search grew 34 percent year over year, followed by Yahoo! Search with 27 percent growth. MSN Search rounded out the top three, growing 10 percent year over year (see Table 2). Table 2: Search Growth among Top 3 Search Providers, April 2006 (U.S.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Search Provider Apr-05 Searches Apr-06 Searches YOY Search (000) (000) Growth -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Google Search 1,986,795 2,655,649 34% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Search 919,894 1,169,109 27% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MSN Search 515,926 570,080 10% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, May 2006 Traditional Brick and Mortar Stores Benefit from Shopping Search Consumers are increasingly connecting with major retail stores via search engines, underscoring the influence search can have on online and offline buying. This is particularly evident in the top five shopping keywords, all of which are brick and mortar stores (see Table 3). "As the top shopping search terms indicate, people are now using search to connect with trusted brick and mortar stores, often those that started as traditional offline marketplaces. These companies have each built a strong Web presence designed to encourage consumers to buy immediately online, or give them the tools they need to do preliminary research before making an in-store purchase," said Lanz. Table 3: Top 5 Shopping Search Terms, April 2006 (U.S.) ------------------------------------------------------- Search Term Rank Searches (000) ------------------------------------------------------- "home depot" 1 2,484 ------------------------------------------------------- "walmart" 2 2,251 ------------------------------------------------------- "target" 3 2,112 ------------------------------------------------------- "sears" 4 1,690 ------------------------------------------------------- "best buy" 5 1,652 ------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, May 2006 About Nielsen//NetRatings NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRT) delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/. Suzy Bausch 408-941-2965 Leilani Han 408-941-2930 DATASOURCE: Nielsen//NetRatings CONTACT: Suzy Bausch, +1-408-941-2965, or Leilani Han, +1-408-941-2930, both of Nielsen//NetRatings Web site: http://www.netratings.com/

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