Google Inc., the No. 1 Web search provider, is in the cross-hairs of media services company Yahoo Inc. and software giant Microsoft Corp. -- a fact not lost on Google co-founder Sergey Brin. "There"s a new level of competition and we need to take it seriously," Brin said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. "We"re definitely seeing much more attention going to search from Microsoft and Yahoo," Brin said. Google announced several enhancements to its services on Tuesday, as new research showed Internet users are turning to more than one Web search provider when seeking information.
Microsoft is spending millions of dollars to build its own Web search product and Yahoo is integrating search technology from recently acquired companies like Inktomi and Overture Services. Meanwhile, Google is widely expected to do a blockbuster initial public offering later this year. Brin declined comment on the IPO. According to data from comScore Networks, the average searcher in the United States searched 28.4 times in December and no single search engine captured all of that activity. Users of Google sites, which have an estimated 35 percent market share in search, were found to be the most loyal. ComScore found that Google challenger Yahoo had 27.1 percent market share from its sites, and the greatest reach among searchers.