I noticed a few weeks ago that US Internet searches for "itunes" had overtaken searches for "free music downloads". As you can see from the following chart, the share of US Internet searches for "free music downloads" and "itunes" follow a similar pattern. Over the holidays searches for "itunes" and "free music downloads" spike as consumers look to fill their new iPods with new music.

In 2005 and 2006, searches for "itunes" overtook "free music downloads" in late December, but remained lower the rest of the year. However, in September 2007 that changed. Year-on-year, the share of US Internet searches for "itunes" rose 66% while searches for "free music downloads" decreased 43%.

I find this interesting for two reasons. First, it emphasizes Apple's increasing strength in the music download market. Second, it illustrates the rise of a branded term over a generic term.

We've noticed over the past couple of years a rise in the share of searches for branded terms while the share of generic keywords is decreasing. The branded term "itunes" has increased as "free music downloads" has decreased. The theory goes that as consumers figure out where they can get what they want, they shift their search behavior from searching for the thing to navigating to the desired brand.

Heather Hopkins

Heather Hopkins is VP of Research for Hitwise UK. This piece was first posted on Hitwise Analyst blog here.