Charlene Li alerts us to this interesting article from Hitwise. They analyzed the top twenty search queries for each of the search biggies, Google, Yahoo and MSN to get a sense of their respective brand identities. The conclusions are fascinating:
Google's queries center on finding things, be that information, geographical location or multimedia content. This confirms what we've seen with our breakdown post, that Google, despite building some very attractive "portal-like" tools, maintains in consumers minds as a brand that helps you locate things.
Yahoo! in contrast, demonstrates a clear portal identity with well rounded interest on a variety of their channels or portal offerings. There is a clear difference when we compare Google's terms with Yahoo's... search versus engage in an activity or consume a specific type of content.
MSN queries are clearly distinct from both Google and Yahoo!, with their queries dominated by specific tools such as the new Messenger download, but also showing some portal characteristics with Music, Games and Money."
Commenting on the results, Charlene Li, Forrester Research noted, "The data also shows how far Google still has to go to shed it’s one-trick pony image with consumers -- even though I believe they are starting to make progress in this area."
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