Google is commanding an ever increasing slice of the search market, according to new data from market research firm comScore.

The search giant handled 42.3 per cent of all search queries in the US in February, up from 36.3 per cent in the same period in 2005.

Yahoo's share fell from 31.1 to 27.6 per cent, and Microsoft's MSN Search handled only 13.5 per cent of queries, down from last year's 16.3 per cent.

The comScore data also showed an increase of 11.1 per cent year-over-year in the total number of search queries.

The latest data is especially painful for Microsoft's MSN Search unit. The company switched on a new search technology and portal a year ago, claiming at the time that the new engine would bring it up to par with Yahoo and Google.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer went so far as to predict that Google might not be around in five years' time.