Yahoo search ad deal may open more urban, blue-collar markets to Google

In light of the recent Google/Yahoo alliance, analytical company Hitwise decided to update a chart it did earlier this year that compared Yahoo’s U.S. search audience to Google’s.

The updated chart (found at the bottom of this post) is much in line with the original, but is potentially more meaningful now given this deal. Yahoo searches tend to be done by a younger audience than Google’s. More significantly however, Yahoo searches also tend to be done by more of a blue-collar segment of society in this country.

“Struggling societies,” “Urban essense” and “Blue-collar backbone” are three large segments that trend towards Yahoo. Hitwise defines these as:

Struggling Societies: Young minorities, students and single parents trying to raise families on low-level jobs in manufacturing, health care and food services.

Urban Essence: Young, single and single-parent minorities living in older apartments working at entry-level jobs in service industries.

Blue-collar Backbone Budget-conscious, young and old blue-collar households living in older towns working in manufacturing, construction and retail trades.

Google, meanwhile tends to attract groups dubbed “Affluent suburbia” and “Upscale America.” These are defined as:

Affluent Suburbia: The wealthiest households in the U.S. living in exclusive suburban neighborhoods enjoying the best of everything that life has to offer.

Upscale America: College-educated couples and families living in the metropolitan sprawl earning upscale incomes providing them with large homes and very comfortable and active lifestyles.

Perhaps not surprisingly given these demographics, Google tends to attract users who spend much more money online. But now, it appears Google may be able to better target these less affluent groups with its advertising programs thanks to the Yahoo deal.

It is also worth noting that Google controls a much higher percentage of search in the U.S. than Yahoo does, so while opening greater access to certain markets is promising, it likely won’t be a dramatic bump for Google.