When Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing "decision engine" took final form recently, many internet pundits didn't think it would pose a serious threat to Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) market-leading internet search positioning. Indeed, Bing hasn't really threatened Google in a little over a week since being officially launched.What is has done is overtake Yahoo Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) position in second place behind Google -- all in less than seven days. How on earth did Microsoft's Bing shoot up so fast? It's brand new, has a huge amount of hype and online advertising and there is an initial euphoria goading the numbers so far. Will "decision search" customers who continue to use Bing long-term spell deeper trouble for Yahoo!, or just prove that initial-launch bumps can happen and then fade away?
The problem if Bing continues to snip away at Yahoo!'s market share will be the realization that Yahoo! was not worth the tens of billions Yahoo! wanted in 2008 when Microsoft offered to buy the company. Microsoft may be able to prove that it can run a search operation with a better product and maintain better market share (and revenue) than Yahoo!'s stodgy brand at the moment. But Bing has to continue succeeding like it has in the past week for all that to happen.
Closing Bell: Economic Catapult for Thanksgiving & Black Friday (WMT, TGT, GRMN, GOOG, MSFT)
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-08-2009 @ 5:51PM
charles urrea said...
"Ding" only took second place for ONE HOUR OF ONE DAY! Oddly enough, it was the same day that MS decided to change the IE default search engine to "Ding". They forced the numbers through redirection.
This number was derived by counting the number of unique I.P hits that occurred in that time frame. The total number of searches was dismal in comparison.
Yes people went there, looked at it, said "meh!" and went back to their old favorites.
6-09-2009 @ 10:56AM
Ryan said...
Bing is nice to use, though not that rich in features as compared to Google. It may take a while for Bing to establish itself. No matter it was redirection or sudden surge or hype, Bingo is doing much better than 6 months old Google Chrome.
7-06-2009 @ 5:06AM
Achugh said...
Bing, even though I like the search engine, has slipped back to No. 3 after Yahoo. It's bad but true.
7-07-2009 @ 9:40PM
Web Hosting Review said...
One great thing about Bing is using it for shopping... Search the term wii in Bing. Notice at the top there will be a sponsored link for a percent off anything on eBay. Just follow the link.