The number of search queries was up 15 percent in October, with the top three engines accounting for more than 80 percent of the market, a research firm said Tuesday.

The top four players, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and America Online maintained the same ranking from June to October, with little to no change in market share, Nielsen/NetRatings said. Google maintained its leadership position during the five-month period, handling 2.4 billion requests, or 47.7 percent.

The biggest change was with Ask Jeeves, which increased search volume 77 percent and catapulted into the number five spot with 2.1 percent market share in August, edging out My Way Search. In October, Ask Jeeves, which is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, held the position with a 2.6 percent share.

“Search volume continues to increase and is generated consistently among the 'Big Three,' growing their collective market share,” Nielsen/NetRatings analyst Ken Cassar said in a statement.

Googe, Yahoo, MSN and AOL saw growth of 21 percent, 16 percent, 8 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Yahoo's market share was 21.8 percent, MSN, 11.3 percent; and AOL, a unit of Time Warner, 7.2 percent.

Image searching was the fast growing request category in October, rising 36.6 percent to 328 million, the research firm said. Also showing strong growth were local, web and news searches, which were up 19.2 percent, 14.2 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively.