Google remains the clear leader among search engines, according to data released today by Experian Hitwise.

It was reported that 85.18% of all searches by Australian internet users were via google.com.au for the four weeks ending 1 May 2010, with google.com and google.com.au combined representing more than 90% of Australian searches online.

It appears that Australians know their brands well with single word searches increasing by 3.61% for the month of April year on year. In fact, 49 of the top 50 search terms for this month were brand names.

Conversely, Yahoo!7 Search has lost share of search this year with 2.38% of web searches; while Bing currently holds 3.65% share.

Areas that experienced the greatest growth in search for the month of April year-on-year include travel, health and medical, sports and aviation.