If you are wondering how to master SEO and digital marketing in Japan, the first thing you need to know are the top search engines that people use in Japan. Understanding about the search engine itself is important so that you can optimise and gain a high ranking in the Japanese market, reaching a wide customer base. Based on the data of “statcounter GlobalStats,” here we show the top 5 search engine rankings with the highest share in Japan.

Top 5 search engines in Japan

All platforms

  1. Google 76.39%
  2. Yahoo! 16.22%
  3. Bing 6.73%
  4. DuckDuckGo 0.30%
  5. Baidu 0.17%

PC

  1. Google 73.37%
  2. Bing 14.21%
  3. Yahoo! 11.6.6%
  4. DuckDuckGo 0.35%
  5. Baidu 0.19%

Tablet

  1. Google 74.91%
  2. Yahoo! 19.93%
  3. Bing 4.24%
  4. DuckDuckGo 0.53%
  5. Baidu 0.16%

Mobile

  1. Google 79.07%
  2. Yahoo! 20.03%
  3. Bing 0.34%
  4. DuckDuckGo 0.24%
  5. Baidu 0.14%

1.Google

Compared to Google’s global market share, which is 92.48%, the market share in Japan is a little low. Even so, it still ranks first, with a big gap from second place Yahoo! (16.22%) and Google boasts a 76.39% share of all platforms (desktop + tablet + mobile). Google’s market share in Japan was around 60% in 2015, it has steadily increased its share, surpassing 70% in 2018, so it is expected to grow more in the future.

2. Yahoo! Japan

Yahoo! has the second largest market share, having 16.22% share on PC, tablet, and mobile platforms. However, in the desktop (PC) market, it ranks third, losing market share to Bing.
Yahoo! was one of the two major search engines, as it had a market share of 40% in 2015. However, due to the rise of Google, it has lost its market share, and the current market share is far behind Google. Yet, they still have a share of about 20% in tablets and mobiles. Yahoo! has been providing a customised search service based on Google’s search engine since 2011, so the search ranking is quite similar to Google.

3. Bing

Bing has its largest search engine share in Japan, with a 6.73% market share.
Bing is officially called Microsoft Bing, and as the name suggests, it is a unique search engine developed by Microsoft. Although it ranks third in tablet and mobile market share, it’s doing well, ranking second in PC market share. The reason for this is thought to be that it’s the default search engine for the browser Edge installed in the Windows OS.

4.DuckDuckGo

The 4th largest search engine share in Japan (share rate 0.3%) is “DuckDuckGo”.
“DuckDuckGo” is a search engine which puts high priority on privacy protection. What is unique about this search engine is that it does not store IP addresses or record user information, and uses only the minimum amount of cookies necessary, and seems to be popular with users who want to prevent the collection and leakage of personal information.

5.Baidu

The 5th largest search engine share in Japan (0.17% share) is “Baidu”.
“Baidu” is a search engine with a market share of 73.86% in China and a global market share of 0.79%.The fact that it ranks fifth in terms of market share in Japan is likely due to the fact that it is used not only by Chinese people living in Japan, but also by companies doing business targeting China.

Optimising your Search engine strategy in Japan

There you have the top search engines in Japan across many devices. From the perspective of SEO, what happens when you think about the market share of search engines? You might be wondering if it is enough to focus on SEO only for Google. The answer is yes, it is safe to say that you can focus and aim on SEO for Google to get high rankings in Japan. Although Yahoo! still has a share of 20%, it operates using Google’s search engine algorithm. In other words Google’s share is 92.61%, including 2nd place Yahoo! So, keep in mind that when optimising SEO content in Japan it’s best to spend time optimising for Google

At JapanBoost, we specialize in providing expert Japanese SEO and Content Marketing services to a wide range of successful clients. If you’re looking to boost your online presence and reach your target audience in Japan, we would be delighted to assist you. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals.