Search engines by country and algorithms

There are various search engines that allow people to search online, but can you identify the one used most by your audience?

Generally speaking, when we talk about search engines, the first one that comes to mind is Google. Let's take a closer look at the search engines used in international markets by countries.

When dealing with topics such as search engine optimisation (SEO), the Google search engine is probably the first that comes to mind. It is, however, interesting to know that Google is not the king of search engines in every country. So, when working on your international SEO, it's important to know the most popular search engines and the main search engine algorithms on which each is based.

Search engine market share by country

In Spain and in most countries in Europe and Latin America, Google is the leading search engine, followed by Yahoo! and Bing. Over 90% of searches in Europe are made through Google. Spain, with 98%, is one of the European countries where Google is most popular. 

See which search engines are popular in other countries:

• Russia: despite the fact that Google has gained ground, Russians prefer to use the search engine Yandex. This takes up 62% of the market share, far ahead of Google.

• China: The most popular search engine among Chinese internet users is Baidu. With a market share of 51%, it is known for its excellent searches of video and audio. It is followed by Google, with nearly 33% of the market. In Japan,Yahoo! is losing places in the ranking and Google now attracts 70% of users.

• United States: Google is by far the most popular search engine, followed by Yahoo!, with a market share of just over 20%.

Now you know the leading search engines in different countries, we will show you some of the most-used search algorithms in each of these.

Most-used search algorithms

Google:

• Unnatural links: the search engine tries to fight against websites that use spam. It targets websites that try to manipulate rankings through artificial links.
• Mobile friendly: Google favours mobile-friendly websites.
• SSL code signing certificate: websites with this certificate get higher SEO rankings.

Yahoo!:

• Keyword in URL: this search engine favours these key words more than Google.
• Page title: Yahoo! gives relevance to the page title. The main difference with Google is that it is not strict about the repetition of keywords in titles.
• Domain age: unlike Google, this search engine still takes domain age into account.

Yandex:

• Meta keywords: this search engine takes into account meta keywords to determine if a page coincides with a search.
• Paid links: these are considered valuable for SEO, much more than in Google.
• Spam links: Yandex does not use these links in its algorithms.

Baidu:

• Meta descriptions: like Google, Baidu uses descriptions as a key factor in SEO. One or two key words must be used, together with a brand term. The maximum length will be 78 simplified Chinese characters.
• Multiple domains and subdomains: Baidu is not interested in this these. If it is a multilingual website, you should use another domain that should not be linked to the Chinese version.
• ICP Licence: obtaining this type of licence through China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will greatly improve the organic search ranking.

What about you? Have you started to improve your international SEO strategy? Can we help you to improve your positioning in international markets? Get in touch!