ComScore says there were 18.2 billion explicit core searches in the U.S. in December. Some quick math indicates, then, that DuckDuckGo’s query volume is about 0.00004 of overall search activity — or about one in every 25,000 searches.

So again, props to DuckDuckGo on the new records and for even showing query data to the public at all. (Wouldn’t it be great if Google and Bing did the same?) But wow … still such a long, long way to go.

DuckDuckGo is, indeed, a pretty good search engine (which doesn't gather any user data). Oddly, we can't get Chrome to make it our default search engine.

Google is going to have a painstaking time explaining this one.

"Microsoft’s Bing search market share maintained its 14.7% in the United States during the month of September.

"The software giant’s “decision engine” held onto 14.7% U.S. market share compared to Google’s 65.3% according to data from comScore. Yahoo’s market share dropped to 15.5% following a 16.3% figure in August."

That's going to put a dent in Mashable's straight-line extrapolation where Bing + Yahoo take over from Google some time next year, then.

"U.S. antitrust regulators are focusing their investigation of Google Inc. on key areas of its business, including its Android mobile-phone software and Web-search related services, people familiar with the probe say."

Going toe-to-toe with Google costs Microsoft $5bn+ *a year*, according to industry execs who spoke to the NYT. And who said it should axe Bing?

"Microsoft needs to concentrate on a different kind of search: finding a buyer for Bing, its online search business. Bing is the industry’s distant No. 2 after Google. It has become a distraction for the software giant — one that costs shareholders dearly. The division that houses Bing lost $2.6 billion in the latest fiscal year. Facebook, or even Apple, might make a better home for Bing. A sale would be a boon for Microsoft’s investors."

Big move: "Starting today, you can receive personalized search results based on the opinions of your friends by simply signing into Facebook. New features make it easier to see what your Facebook friends “like” across the Web, incorporate the collective know-how of the Web into your search results, and begin adding a more conversational aspect to your searches. Decisions can now be made with more than facts, now the opinions of your trusted friends and the collective wisdom of the Web."