Google (GOOG) picks up more search share

It is hard to imagine that Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) share of the search market in the US could get much larger, but in each month it seems to make further gains.

Google piece of search queries increased to 57.7% in November compared with 55.5% in October, according to data from Nielsen Online cited by The Associated Press. . For the big search company to move up that way. Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) pieces of the pie had to move down. And, they did.

The flip side of Google's monthly success story is the talk of Yahoo!'s failure. Its share of November searches dropped to under 18%. At the rate it is failing, the number could be less than 15% by the end of the year.

The story about the failure at Yahoo! is now as old as the hills, but what may happen to its stock price is another matter. Its shares are now below $24 which is near its 52-week low. Search is not all of Yahoo!'s business, but it does rely on the feature to bring in much of its traffic and revenue.

At a 15% share of the search market, what is Yahoo! worth? Certainly not $24. Perhaps below $20. That could be a 50% drop in two years.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.