Minimal Change in Microsoft Bing’s Search Market Share After One Year
Microsoft Bing’s attempt to challenge Google’s dominance in the search engine market has seen minimal success, with only a small increase in market share over the past year. Despite the launch of the new Bing, powered by ChatGPT designed for Search, Microsoft has failed to make a significant impact on Google’s stronghold.
When Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella introduced the new Bing on February 7, 2023, there were high hopes that it could be a game-changer in the search market. However, one year later, it seems that little has changed. Questions now arise about whether generative AI is truly the revolutionary technology that both Microsoft and Google have hyped it up to be.
According to StatCounter, Microsoft Bing’s search market share in the United States rose from 6.35% to 7.87% over the past year, a modest increase of 1.52 percentage points. Globally, Bing’s market share increased from 2.81% to 3.43%, a gain of only 0.62 percentage points. In comparison, Google’s market share in the United States declined from 88.96% to 87.46%, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points. Worldwide, Google’s market share decreased from 93.37% to 91.47%, a loss of 1.9 percentage points.
These numbers indicate that Microsoft Bing and Google essentially swapped 1.5 percentage points in the U.S., while globally, Google lost nearly 2 percentage points, but Microsoft Bing only gained less than a percentage point of that. It is clear that Google remains firmly in control of the search engine market.
However, Microsoft has previously claimed that stealing just 1 percentage point of search can result in an additional $2 billion of new search revenue for the company. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine if this revenue has materialized, as Microsoft only reports percentages in its earnings reports. Nevertheless, on January 30, Microsoft did report an 8% increase in Search and News Advertising revenue, and during the earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood noted “higher search volume.”
In response to the new Bing, Google launched its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which is still in the experimental phase in Labs. Google also introduced its Gemini model in December, which is now being used in Bard and SGE, and will soon be integrated into Google Search.
In conclusion, despite Microsoft’s efforts to challenge Google’s dominance in the search engine market with the new Bing powered by ChatGPT, the past year has shown minimal change. Google remains the top search engine, while Microsoft has gained only a small increase in market share. The impact of generative AI in revolutionizing the search experience is still uncertain, leaving us to wonder if Microsoft or Google’s claims about its potential were exaggerated.
