Google dominates the search market the way Apple dominates the tablet market or the way Microsoft (News - Alert) dominates the desktop market: utterly. However, while there have been no recent signs to suggest that the iPad is slipping from its number one spot — far from it, actually — and nearly 90 percent of desktops and laptops sport some form of Windows as has been the case for years, Google’s (News - Alert) search dominance is actually being chipped away.

A recent report from Experian Hitwise states that, while Google maintains its iron grip on search, Bing and Yahoo have managed to steal away some market share. In May of 2011, 68.11 percent of all U.S. searches were conducted by Google. In May of 2012, however, that number dropped to 65.02 percent, a year-over-year drop of five percent.

Bing-powered search, made up of Bing and Yahoo usage, rose from 26.79 percent in May 2011 to 28.12 percent a year later. Individually, Yahoo searches grew from 14.5 percent to 14.95 percent in that same period with Bing searches trailing at 13.17 percent in May 2012 up from 12.29 percent from a year prior.

All-in-all, Bing-powered search and google.com account for 93.14 percent of all searches conducted in the U.S., leaving a mere 6.86 percent share of the search market for all other competitors.

While this probably will amount to little in the long run — who can fathom a world where Google isn’t synonymous with search, after all — this news was likely cause for some celebration at Microsoft. The two companies are direct competitors in a few markets now — search, online e-mail, mobile phones — an in each, Microsoft is the underdog by far.

However, Microsoft is still a force to be reckoned with, as the steadiness of Windows and the popularity of the Xbox 360 ensure strong profits for the Redmond-based company every quarter. Who is to say that Microsoft won’t beat Google in “all markets,” as Steve Ballmer (News - Alert) recently stated? Well, almost everybody but you’ve got to give Ballmer points for determination.

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