Microsoft Bing shows impressive growth
Bing, the new search engine launched by Microsoft earlier this month, is showing an impressive growth in market share, according to data analysts comScore.
Just two weeks after launch, Bing is accounting for 12.1 percent of search results in the United States; up 3 percent from its launch share.
The new search engine, dubbed a “decision engine” by Microsoft, has not had a completely standing start – it replaces Live Search (which itself replaced MSN search in 2007 but met with limited success).
Bing’s success has been helped by a series of favourable reviews from prominent members of the search community, with its functionality and relevance being generally praised.
Microsoft has long been keen to increase its share of a search market currently dominated by Google (with a 73 percent share in the United States). Previously, the opinion of many experts has been that the only realistic way of achieving this would be a takeover of rivals Yahoo.
“When we set out to build Bing, we grounded ourselves in a deep understanding of how people really want to use the Web. Bing is an important first step forward in our long-term effort to deliver innovations in search that enable people to find information quickly and use the information they’ve found to accomplish tasks and make smart decisions,” commented Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Bing certainly takes many lessons from Google – using the same simplified, uncluttered layout that has become the defacto search standard – but whether it can mount a sustained long-term challenge and become a viable alternative to the Mountain View company remains to be seen.
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