Google gained U.S. search market share again in January, capturing 47.5% of search queries, according to Internet metrics firm comScore Networks. That represents a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous month.

During the same period, Yahoo lost search market share while Microsoft gained. Yahoo's U.S. search share dropped to 28.1%, a loss of 0.4 percentage points. Microsoft sites meanwhile posted a small gain of 0.1 percentage points to reach 10.6%.

Ask also lost stateside search market share, dropping 0.2 percentage points to a total of 5.2% during the month of January. Time Warner Network (AOL) improved its position, fielding 5% of U.S. searches that month, up 0.1 percentage points from the month before.

The number of searches conducted in the U.S. in January -- 6.9 billion -- rose 26% from the same month a year ago.