Google's network of sites captured 48.3 per cent of the US search market in March, gaining 0.2 share points on the previous month, according to the latest figures from measurement and analysis firm comScore. 

The search giant led the pack with a total of 3.5 billion search queries performed during the month.

Yahoo maintained its second place ranking with 27.5 per cent of US searches, or two billion queries, followed by Microsoft with 10.9 per cent at 798 million queries.

The Ask network registered 5.2 per cent or 379 million queries, and Time Warner had five per cent or 368 million queries.

Americans conducted 7.3 billion online searches in March, up six per cent on February and 14 per cent on March 2006.

All search engines increased their US traffic, suggesting that either the internet population grew slightly in March, or US users are making more searches.