The latest US search statistics are in and it is actually a little surprising… Yahoo! have gained search share over the last month, while Google has actually dropped and Microsoft, well lets just say its not good news.

According to statistics released by comScore, Yahoo!’s search share has increased by .8% to 20.2% while Google has decreased to 62.9%. Now don’t worry too much Google fans, the decrease is actually only one tenth of a percent (they were at 63%).

What’s interesting to note is that although there has been some unrest recently at Yahoo!, they have still managed to increase their search share.

Loren Baker from Search Engine Journal has a theory on why Yahoo!’s search share has increased and I thought I would share it with you:

I believe it is because of multiple reasons where Yahoo still benefits as being an Internet start page and extremely popular content network:

• The State of the Economy : Yahoo Finance and Message Boards are still going strong and given the ups and downs of the Dow over the past few months, it makes sense that more people were using Yahoo Finance and its channels, in turn; searching more.

• The State of the Nation: We’re in the middle of one heated election, not only between Obama and McCain, but also for Congressional seats around the country. Yahoo News and its Political channels are benefiting from the national and global interest in this year’s elections and this could also be increasing the amount of Yahoo Searches.

• The Holiday Shopping Season: Let’s not forget Yahoo Shopping and its popularity as a shopping portal. Although the economy is weak, people still have to buy presents; perhaps this also is leading to an increase in Yahoo Search usage.

What are your thoughts on the theory? Do you believe that Yahoo!’s share increase is here to stay? Feel free to let us know by leaving a comment below.