December’s search engine market share data is out from Hitwise.  Don’t bother with the link   The Fast Friday Fact is that Google’s share increased 1 point and the next 3 players (Yahoo, Microsoft’s Bing) all lost share.

Google now has 72.25% of U.S. search engine market share.   That’s why when people complain about the company or its policies, the battle is uphill. There is no real monopoly issue.  Google beat everyone at search fair and square, including its two closest competitors, both of whom had search engines and a big lead before Google launched.

Your Fast Friday Fact is that US Internet search is Google’s world.  You just get to use the site for free.