There have been some conflicting reports on search engine market shares by different analysts. CNET is reporting that Nielsen Megaview Search research results for August 2008 show that Google's market share in the U.S. was at 64.6% in contrast to StatCounter reporting a 77.83% market share for the same period of time. While ComScore did not appear to have August data yet, their reports for July 2009 more closely parallel those of Nielsen, with Google reported to have a 64.7% market share.
Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Search Engine Market Share
Given the emerging battle between Bing and Google, not to mention other search engines, this discrepancy in data analysis and reporting could have significant repercussions for advertisers, investors and consumers alike.
