Bing’s strong start to the year in the UK search market appears to have hit the buffers, as data from StatCounter Global Stats reveals Google reclaimed yet more ground during April.
Google saw its share climb from 88.12% to 88.38%, while Bing lost ground for the second consecutive month, dropping from 7.09% to 6.7%. Yahoo also lost ground, dipping from 3.61% to 3.54%.
Google’s hold on the UK mobile market remains as strong as ever, with a share of 94.05% leaving Yahoo (4.44%) and Bing (1.24%) comfortably in the shade.
April search news
By far the biggest item on the search news agenda this month has been Google’s mobile algorithm. Reports suggest this was rolled out gradually during the month, and that this process is now complete.
The update has been common knowledge for some time, leaving sites with plenty of time to prepare. Google figures suggest there has been a 4.7% increase in mobile friendly sites in the last two months. Mobile traffic is certainly something that site owners will be paying close attention to going forward, as they bid to ensure they are optimised.
April search trends
As one of the UK’s premier sporting events, the Grand National always attracts a lot of attention, and Google Trends data shows this was reflected in the country’s searches last month.
This year’s race is likely to have invited even more attention than usual due to the fact that the legendary jockey AP McCoy had suggested he would retire if victorious on board favourite Shutthefrontdoor. However, the race was ultimately won by Many Clouds, ridden by Leighton Aspinall.
As ever, the British public was keen to find out more about certain celebrities. In April the chosen two were the late actor Paul Walker and American former Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner.
Film fans flocked to find out more about Walker, whose final film role Furious 7 was released during April. The star was killed in a car accident in 2013.
Meanwhile Jenner, who has become something of a television personality in recent years thanks to his association with the Kardashian family, made worldwide headlines as he announced plans to undergo a gender transition.
Other news stories that attracted a high number of searches included the Nepal earthquake, the new Apple Watch and the new series of Game of Thrones.
The UK search market share stats for April are detailed below:
| UK Search Engine | April 2015 share (%) | March 2015 share (%) | Change |
| 88.38 | 88.12 | 0.26 | |
| Bing | 6.7 | 7.09 | -0.39 |
| Yahoo | 3.54 | 3.61 | -0.07 |
| Others | 1.38 | 1.18 | 0.2 |