Bing surges, takes a bite out of Google

It’s a good time to be Bing; Microsoft’s search engine is rapidly expanding its marketshare, becoming the search engine of choice for new platforms, and has even more potential for growth, thanks to its prominent place in many of Microsoft’s upcoming products. And get this: it just bit a chunk out of Google’s marketshare.

Alright, so even though Bing is bigger than ever, the truth is that most of that new marketshare is coming from beleaguered Yahoo, rather than Mountain View. But between July 2011 and 2012, Google took a 2.6% dive, a number that is easily swallowed by Bing’s growth over the same period. This still doesn't put Bing anywhere near the same level as Google (which still commands a healthy 65%, give or take, of the market), but it shows that Microsoft really does have a chance when it comes to taking on the search giant.

And even growth from Yahoo is good for Microsoft. Obviously, they’d rather get all of the profits, instead of sharing them with a partner. For all intents and purposes, Yahoo’s search engine is a thing of the past. The branding is just there for people who can’t quite break the habit of using it as their search engine, or those who use Yahoo as their home page.

So, 2.6% might not sound like much, but it’s a pretty big deal if you’re in Microsoft’s shoes. And things are even better now – Google’s loss of marketshare is only accounting for the period up until July, and Bing has had several strong months (between August 2011 and August 2012, Bing grew by 4.2%) since then, and there’s no reason to expect that it won’t stay that way. In fact, with Bing-heavy products like Windows 8 on the horizon, and Windows Phone threatening to steal Android’s thunder, Bing has nowhere to go but up.

Source: Brafton