Google (GOOG - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr - Rating) already dominates the booming search market.And it figures to extend that lead by exploiting a data advantage that allows it to deliver superior search results and attract even more users.

Having an increasing share of searches run on its search engine is an important, and often overlooked, advantage it has over competitors such as Yahoo! (YHOO - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr - Rating) and Microsoft (MSFT - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr - Rating).

This advantage creates a self-reinforcing cycle that draws even more users to Google.

Google’s data advantage, which derives from its large share of user searches, gives the Web giant superior insight into user behavior and intent, which results in superior search results.

This, in turn, attracts more users to the company’s search engine, thereby providing it with even more data. The implications of this phenomenon — the subject of much debate in the search community — are profound for investors.

Of the 61 billion searches conducted worldwide in August, 37 billion were conducted on Google’s search engine, according to researcher ComScore.

“Because they have more data, Google can train their algorithms (the mathematical formulas computers run to come up with the results to search queries, among other things) better than any of their competitors,” says Ani Kortikar, CEO of search marketing firm Netramind.