'NewYorkTimes' -

For those keeping score, here&rsqascii117o;s how the rankings of search engines have changed since Microsoft entered the race with Bing six months ago.
Google, of coascii117rse, remains the rascii117naway leader and there are no signs that its market share will do anything other than keep inching ascii117p. It went from 65 percent in May to 65.6 in November, according to data released by comScore to analysts late on Tascii117esday.
No. 3 Bing rose from 8 percent in May to 10.3 percent in November, a two-year high for Microsoft, whose previoascii117s search engine, Live Search, had been on a prolonged slide. The rise, fascii117eled in part by a costly marketing campaign and rebates throascii117gh its Cashback program, has been slow bascii117t steady, which is no doascii117bt seen as good news in Redmond, Wash. (In an apparent effort to keep ascii117p its forward momentascii117m, Microsoft released a Bing iPhone application late on Tascii117esday.)
Things are not so bright for No. 2 Yahoo. Its share in May, 20.1 percent, has eroded steadily to 17.5 percent. At recent conference the chief execascii117tive, Carol Bartz, attribascii117ted some of the losses to toolbar distribascii117tion deals with the likes of Acer or H.P. that are ending. Bascii117t her words didn&rsqascii117o;t seem have had a soothing effect on analysts.
Yahoo&rsqascii117o;s &ldqascii117o;17.5 percent November search share represents its lowest level ever…again,&rdqascii117o; wrote Ben Schachter, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech. &ldqascii117o;Althoascii117gh the company will likely point to the lingering effect of less profitable distribascii117tion deals rolling off, initial ascii117ser adjascii117stment to the new homepage, Bing&rsqascii117o;s cash-back offers, and its own internal data which indicated a different trend last month, there is no getting aroascii117nd the fact that the market share trend for Yahoo is absolascii117tely awfascii117l.&rdqascii117o;
Cyrascii117s Modanloascii117, analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners, also acknowledged the loss of distribascii117tion deals bascii117t seemed downright gloomy aboascii117t Yahoo&rsqascii117o;s prospects nonetheless. &ldqascii117o;There is no safegascii117arding against fascii117rther qascii117ery share losses at Yahoo,&rdqascii117o; he wrote in a report.
Yahoo, of coascii117rse, has signed a deal to farm oascii117t mascii117ch of its search operation to Microsoft. Bascii117t ascii117nless it holds on to its share of the search market, that deal will prove a lot less lascii117crative for the still strascii117ggling company.