How is Bing managing Tiny Gains every month in US Search Market Share?

Is Bing turning into “The Little Search Engine That Could”? Bing may not be toppling the giant that is Google any time soon, but the market studies show that it is steadily making gains in market share. Article headlines like “Bing Keeps Rising”, “Bing Making Gains on Google’s Market Share”, and “Bing Keeps Pecking Away at Search Share and Making Gains” have been a trend for many months now, almost a year. The questions for us to evaluate, and for Bing to capitalize on is how they are making these market share gains. Understanding how and why they are gaining market share is the key to increasing it and delivering a better search experience for internet searchers.

In researching the statistics on search engine market share, it seems that Bing has been slowly and steadily gaining market share since early 2011. While it is still not in a position to take over the majority of the search traffic online, the steady gain in Bing’s market share is noteworthy. Besides the fact that Bing is continually working on delivering better search results, there are 3 main factors affecting Bing’s consistent increases in market share: Internet Explorer and other devices installing Bing as the default search, mobile device increased use of Bing as the default for mobile search, and advancements in Bing’s paid search feature. Of course, probably the most important factor driving the success of Bing’s continued gains in the market share remains in the fact that the search users are happy with Bing’s search results since they are keeping Bing as the default search rather than switching to a different competitor.

Desk Top Numbers for Bing’s Search Market Share

According to Comscore, “Bing’s market share hit a record high 17.9% of desktop search queries coming mostly at the expense of Yahoo! and other third-tier players.”

Photo Credit: Motley Fool

Mobile Search Statistics for Bing’s Search Market Share

Although Bing’s mobile search market share appears low, currently at just 5%, Google has lost some of the 95% of the mobile search market share that it owned just 3 years ago. Yahoo’s only gain in market share has been in the mobile space; Yahoo currently holds the mobile search traffic. However, we can expect to see Bing make some huge strides in the mobile search positioning within the market because of the recent announcement from Apple regarding Siri Voice Assistant search will be using Bing as a default. That search traffic combined with the growing popularity of the new Windows phone systems, which all use Bing search technology, we can expect further growth in Bing’s mobile search market share in the very near future.

Bing’s Paid Search Listings Statistics

Bing’s paid search listing numbers have continually risen as well. The paid search market is split only between Google and Bing since Yahoo does not engage in paid search listings at this time. According to SearchEngineLand, a report showing figures for 2013’s first quarter showed Bing’s share of spending rose 3.6% year-over-year to 21%. “The market share grab comes after four consecutive quarters of a relatively stable split between Google and Bing.” Some additional Bing Paid Search statistics:

• Bing spend rose 42% driven by a 7.4% increase in CPC year-over-year and a 46% increase in CTR year-over-year. Google’s spend increased 17.1% year-over-year.

• Bing’s clicks increased both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, at 32% and 15.8%, respectively. Google’s clicks increased 9% year-over-year and 7.9% quarter-over-quarter.

Both search engines reported an increase in mobile paid search clicks as well as desktop search behaviour.

Not only do these factors play into a future where Bing continues to take small bites out of Google’s search market share, but other strategic partnerships from Microsoft with X-Box game console developments and Netflix will continue the trend with Bing’s search becoming a default in many living rooms across America and the world.

This Post is crafted by Richard Larson, An author and Brand Manager for Go Promotional Squeeze Toys. He enjoys writing about Internet marketing and business tips and ideas.