Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wished to make Google dance two years in the past, with an AI overhaul of Bing that was designed to steal Google’s all-important search market share. Now, there are many indicators that Microsoft has efficiently taken search share off Google, each within the US and worldwide.
Earlier this week Microsoft reported that its search and information promoting income had grown by $1.6 billion, or 13 p.c, during the last fiscal yr. Excluding visitors acquisition prices, income had elevated by 20 p.c because of “increased search quantity and better income per search.”
That increased search quantity has been persistent for greater than a yr now, and Jordi Ribas, head of search at Microsoft, revealed on X this week that it has additionally had an affect on general desktop search market share. In keeping with Comscore, Bing now has 29 p.c of US search share, in comparison with round 60 p.c for Google. That’s a 2.1 share level improve for the reason that launch of Bing Chat in February 2023.
StatCounter says Bing has elevated its worldwide search share to 11.6 p.c, a 3.4 share level improve from two years in the past. On the identical time, each Comscore and StatCounter report that Google’s search share has declined. Google has misplaced 6.1 share factors worldwide, and within the US it has misplaced 1.2 share factors.
These would possibly look like small shifts, however they may very well be value billions to Bing simply as Microsoft turns into a $4 trillion company. “For each 1 level of share achieve within the search promoting market, it’s a $2 billion income alternative for our promoting enterprise,” stated Philippe Ockenden, Microsoft’s CVP of finance, during the launch of Bing Chat two years in the past.
If you take a look at the general search market share — which incorporates desktop, cellular, and pill units — Bing isn’t taking as a lot share off Google. StatCounter notes that Bing is barely at 4 p.c worldwide throughout all platforms, in comparison with Google’s almost 90 p.c share. That would imply Microsoft’s tricks to persuade folks to maintain utilizing Bing and Edge on Home windows are having a much bigger affect on search engine share than its mobile efforts.
Microsoft’s search and promoting enterprise continues to be small in comparison with Google, nevertheless it has definitely made Google dance and reply with its new AI overviews and dedicated AI mode in search. Bing has been slowly rising and taking away share from Google and different rivals simply as Microsoft had deliberate. “That is now the fourth consecutive yr by which Bing and Edge took market share,” says Ribas. “We’re additionally rising because of powering internet grounding for third-party main chatbots together with ChatGPT and Meta AI.”
Microsoft has now refocused most of its AI efforts round Copilot quite than Bing search, regardless of its search engine rapidly hitting 100 million active users weeks after the launch of its AI-powered Bing Chat characteristic. Microsoft rebranded Bing Chat to Copilot months after its debut, in a bid to higher compete with ChatGPT and different standalone AI chatbots.