Google, the internet search company, has taken over 60 percent of all U.S. search volume for the first time this July, according to one research firm.

Internet metrics company Hitwise stated on Thursday that during the four-week period ending July 29, 60.2 percent of U.S.-based Internet searches were handled by Google. This is up from 59.3 percent in June.

In the same period, Yahoo Search also gained market share, moving from 22.0 percent to 22.5 percent, while MSN Search saw a slight decrease, falling from 12.1 percent to 11.8 percent, the firm stated.

These top three search engines accounted for over 94 percent of all searches in the United States. Other search engines together accounted for just 5.5 percent of U.S. searches.

Founded in 1997, Hitwise measures Internet usage behavior on over 500,000 websites across 160 industries on a daily basis.

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