19.5% in the US use Yahoo!? No idea what they are thinking, to be honest.

Microsoft can step in and do something, but nothing can really overthrow Google who has firmly implanted itself in the minds of consumers. Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo! seem to understand that a simple, effective search engine that isn’t flashy is all they need nowadays.

Is that the difference?

Another key difference: Google provides its information as a service with Google Trends, Insights for Search etc.

Yahoo Buzz! is the first result in Google when using the search term ‘yahoo trends’.

They want us to tell them!

The fifth result is this press release from Yahoo! under the headline: ‘Yahoo disclosed top trends for 2008′ at webmasterworld.

And Yahoo! sells Yahoo Web Analytics – An enterprise site analysis tool that lets you see real-time user behavior on your website with powerful and flexible tools.

But there are other reasons why Google dominates the search industry, over and above its brand, services and simple interface.

Google’s ultimate advantage lies in the fact that it has better indexes of more information, which represents all information – more or less – because it is the market leader.

So the only easy opportunity for Yahoo! and Microsoft resides in a strategy which takes the opportunity to control information by only indexing information that conforms with a specific set of values and ethics or motivations.

If successful this strategy could lead to more advertising. The target market is everyone.

Could a corporation become a genuine arbiter of a moral code that appealed to the majority of the total population?

Alternatively, Yahoo could adopt a strategy that excluded organisations and individuals that were attempting to subvert (porn, hot porn) the power of information and technology for their own reasons.