• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, December 20, 2006

Web users conducted approximately 3.1 billion searches on Google last month--marking a 31% increase from last year, according to new data by Nielsen//NetRatings. Google's total market share of searches now stands at 49.5%, according to the media measurement company.

Yahoo garnered around half as many searches--1.52 billion--marking a 27% increase from last year. Yahoo's overall search share came to 24.3%. MSN once again lost market share last month, with just 515.5 million searches--marking a 12% year-over-year drop. MSN's total search share came to just 8.2%. In addition, MSN saw search activity dwindle from October, when the company accounted for 538 million searches, or 8.8% of the total.

Separately, brokerage house Merrill Lynch this week also reported that Google seemed poised to gain ground on Yahoo and MSN in search queries. The report, by research analyst Justin Post, stated that industry estimates show Google query growth of 30-50%.

"Feedback indicates that Google search volumes are not experiencing any ill effects from Microsoft's efforts in search and are benefiting from relative inertia in Yahoo's marketplace ahead of the Panama algorithm transition," wrote Post.

Yahoo last week opened its highly anticipated Panama platform to paid search advertisers.