The Christmas season wasn't merry for Google (GOOG), as it saw its search share drop for the first time since it had plunged in June by almost 4 percent.
This decrease in search share wasn't as dramatic, as it dropped from November's share total of 57.7 percent, down to 56.3 percent.
Unfortunately for Yahoo! (YHOO), they weren't able to take advantage of Google's decline, as they also lost search market share, falling only a little to 17.7 percent, down from the 17.9 percent they enjoyed in November.
Of the top three search companies, Microsoft (MSFT) was the only one to make a gain in search share in December, as the grew by a respectable 1.8 percent; going from 12 percent in November to December's 13.8 percent.
Microsoft has been using different prize incentives to get web surfers to use their search engine.
All the search numbers above come from Nielsen Online, and only reflect the U.S. search market.
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