Redmond, Washington — Software maker Microsoft Corp.’s newly launched internet search engine Bing is gaining ground over search leaders Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., according to some early figures from market researcher comScore reported Tuesday.
One of the most spellbinding features of Bing is the impressive images that beautifies its home page and changes each day. (Credit: eBrandz)
Microsoft gave Bing a public debut on May 28 and released it the following week, supported by an extensive television and Internet advertising campaign.
According to figures quoted by comScore, Microsoft’s share of search results pages in the United States climbed two percent to 11.1 percent the week after being rolled out, as compared to 9.1 percent the prior week. Some of that gain is the result from the fact that more people were using Microsoft.
Microsoft’s engine had 15.5 percent daily penetration, as opposed to 13.8 percent in the prior week.
| Microsoft Sites Search Performance 6/2/09-6/6/09 vs. 5/26/09-5/30/09 Total U.S. Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore qSearch |
|||
| 5/26/09- 5/30/09 |
6/2/09- 6/6/09 |
Point Change |
|
| Searcher Penetration (Avg. Daily) | 13.8% | 15.5% | 1.7 |
| Share of Search Results Pages | 9.1% | 11.10% | 2 |
(Credit: comScore)
“So far, Bing appears to be off to a good start,” said comScore Senior Vice President Mike Hurt.
“These initial figures suggest that Microsoft Bing has generated early interest, resulting in a spike in search engagement and an immediate term improvement to Microsoft’s position in the search market,” Hurt said in a statement. “So far it seems that the lifts in searcher penetration and engagement have held relatively steady throughout the five-day period.”
But Hurt agreed that only time will tell whether it is a blip or a true gain. “The ultimate performance of Bing depends on the extent to which it generates more trial through its extensive launch campaign and whether it retains those trial users.”
Bing represents a renovation of the Redmond, Washington-based company’s search product after more than five years of investment resulted in share losses to industry leader Google.
The US software behemoth described Bing as a “Decision Engine” aimed at serving people make buying decisions, plan trips, research health matters or find local businesses.
The data “showed a substantial improvement in Microsoft’s position in the search market in the days following Bing’s introduction,” Reston, Virginia-based comScore said.
Microsoft’s Bing has lots of ground to make up. In April, the last full month for which figures are available, Microsoft’s sites took 8.2 percent of U.S. Internet searches, trailing Yahoo with 20.4 percent and Google with 64.2 percent.
Even though Bing has only been introduced a week ago, it is already performing better than past Microsoft efforts to improve and market its search engine, said Greg Sterling, principal at consulting and research firm Sterling Market Intelligence in San Francisco.
“People are trying it out and some number of people seem to be more than just lookie loos,” said Sterling, who is also a contributor to the Search Engine Land Web site. “In the case of a launch like this, you often get a spike on the first day and then it goes away, but there does seem to be some usage ongoing here.”
Bing was launched in the wake of Google and Yahoo! prepping refinements to their search services and the launch of a Wolfram Alpha query engine that delivers answers instead of lists of websites.
Bing replaces MSN Live Search, which has languished in a distant third place behind market-leading Google and second-place Yahoo!
Adam Sohn, a director in Microsoft’s Online Services Business, declined to comment on the share data. Google, in an e-mail, reiterated its statement that it “welcomes competition that helps deliver useful information to users.” Kim Rubey, a spokeswoman for Yahoo! Inc., operator of the No. 2 U.S. search engine, was not immediately available to comment.
Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, rose 3 cents to $22.08 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have gained 14 percent this year. Google fell $3.15 to $435.62, and Yahoo rose 21 cents to $16.40.