There is a lot of talk about Microsoft's "Bing" search engine and how it's emerging as a popular alternative to Google, especially in the US market. According to Comscore, the "Bing" search engine has seen increases of 1% of overall searches performed on the internet from month to month from May - July 2009 and continues to climb in popularity.


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Yet with Google still owning 64% of the US search market and even more of that on a global scale (78%), should they be worried? Is the phrase 'I will Google it' going to phase out and be replaced by 'I will Bing it'?....

I'm not sure that such a thing is likely to happen. I've had discussions on this topic with people over and over again and it's all about distribution and the popularity of that distribution. Google has a very solid network of websites using it's search engine in a lucrative partnership program that they have been able to leverage better than anyone else and Google apps are the most popular ones used on Apple's iPhones and RIM's Blackberry's and other smart phones alike.

My take is that it would be really difficult for Bing to become the main player in search and increase it's share five fold in an effort to displace Google as number one. It's not impossible, because truly nothing is impossible, yet for the purpose of this discussion, let's just say that it's highly unlikely that such a thing will happen.


Seph Swain

Microsoft is not only behind Google in it's online distribution network and the creation of mobile apps; they are also still the number three player and not even number two yet with Yahoo! having just over 19% of the market. I like Microsoft's effort here and I am even somewhat impressed with what I have seen when using Bing, but I simply don't see Google slipping to number 2 or 3 anytime soon. Bing wants to be number one, yet they should focus on being number two as that will be a difficult thing to achieve in itself.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts. What do you think?

Ron Kunitzky, an expert in strategic business affiliations and partnerships and founder of Geyser Marketing Group – the Partnership Marketing Firm, and has successfully brokered partnership marketing programs for companies as varied as Coastal Contacts, Dell Computer, NASDAQ, and 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.

About the Author: Ron Kunitzky

Ron has extensive knowledge of sales, partnership marketing, account management, business development, affiliate marketing, brand licensing and channel marketing, including working on programs with companies like Wal-Mart, Dell Computer, Carphone Warehouse, Hewlett Packard and Choice Hotels who have all reaped the benefits from the strategic programs that he has created. Over the last few years Ron has worked with leading North American companies that include 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Coastal Contacts, Aeroplan, Linens N Things, Ubisoft, The ALDO Group, NASDAQ OMX, Roscan, Export Development Canada, Cardinal Watches, Track It Back, DiscoverWare and MBNA-Bank of America and has helped them generate incremental revenue, acquire new customers, open new marketing and distribution channels and add value to their existing propositions. Ron is in great demand as a public speaker and can be regularly heard speaking passionately on his areas of expertise at various seminars and events from leading associations. Ron has been featured in several publications including The Sponsorship Report, Marketing Magazine, The Advisor and Les Affairs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Concordia University, a Graduate Certificate in Marketing from McGill University, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the United Kingdom and is a B2B Council Member of the Canadian Marketing Association. In his spare time, Ron likes to spend time with his wife, travel the world, play drums in his band and attend his weekly recreational ice hockey game.

3 Comments

  1. Tony Lawrence October 15, 2009 at 7:46 am

    Probably not.

    First, nobody trusts Microsoft. Previous Borg search engines have favored Borg owned results – they are just too greedy and stupid for their own good.

    Second, they don’t have great programmers. All their hype aside, they are too big: you can’t write great code by committee.

    Finally, they are losing market share everywhere. Vista was a bust and Win 7 is likely to be also.

    In a decade or two, Microsoft is not going to matter. And the world will be a better place.

  2. Andi October 16, 2009 at 2:11 am

    If Bing merges with Yahoo, or better becomes Yahoo it has a chance. Alone nobody has a chance against Google.

  3. Olesya October 19, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    I can’t imagine this ever happening, not with Microsoft’s poor rep, not with Google’s popularity (and constant improvements), and especially not with those ridiculously annoying commercials!

Comments are closed.