Industry analyst comScore has released its October 2008 US search engine rankings.

The study found internet users in the US conducted 12.6 billion core searches, up seven per cent in comparison to the previous month.

Those involved in search engine optimisation may be interested to hear Google has stayed at the top of the rankings, recording 63.1 per cent of all searches – accounting for 10.8 billion searches – an increase of six per cent on September.

Following the company was Yahoo! at 20.5 per cent – or 10.8 billion searches – with Microsoft at 8.5 per cent and Ask at 4.2 per cent.

Earlier this month, Google upgraded its News Toolbar gadget, in celebration of the company’s eighth birthday and the recently-released Google Toolbar 5 for Internet Explorer.

The service allows users to find tabs with different news sections embedded directly into the toolbar.

Speaking on a blog, associate product marketing manager Hicham Alaoui said: "You can read the news as soon as it breaks, browse top news headlines and images, all without having to leave the site you’re on."

News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.