Home Has Bing’s Market Share Creep Ended?

Has Bing’s Market Share Creep Ended?

Microsoft’s share of the search market has been growing slowly since the company launched Bing.com – until last month, according to a report released today by research firm comScore.

Bing launched in June 2009 with 8.9 percent of searches, the share of the market that had been going through Microsoft’s Live search, and climbed to 12.7 percent by June 2010. But Bing’s growth slowed in July, according to comScore.

The new report says Bing’s market share actually dipped by .1 percent from June to July 2010, giving it 12.6 percent of the search market.

Google lost 1 percent of the market in the same period but still grabs 61.6 percent of searches. Yahoo! gained 1.2 percent to claim 20.1 percent of searches. Ask.com lost .1 percent, leaving it with 3.5 percent of the market, and AOL was unchanged with 2.2 percent of the market.

But Yahoo! has already started switching over its search backend to be powered by Bing. The transition could give Microsoft control over almost a third of the market, making it a healthy competitor to Google.

The increased exposure brought about by the “powered by Bing” graphic that would appear on Yahoo! sites could also kick more searches Bing’s way.

It’s also interesting to note that this report is the first to include comScore’s new metric, “explicit core searches,” designed to measure only searches performed intentionally by users. ComScore was concerned that the practice of linking users directly to search results was inflating market share for some search engines.

Using the new metric, Google claims 65.8 percent of searches, Yahoo! 17.1 percent and Bing 11 percent.

ComScore has been publishing search market share reports since 2003, but there are other reports that contradict its numbers – numbers just released by analytics firm Chitika show Google with a whopping 81 percent of the market, Bing with 11 percent and Yahoo with just six percent.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.