Bing Takes Search Engine Share From Google
By Anna Johnson on July 6th, 2009Data from StatCounter shows that Microsoft gained U.S. search engine market share in June 2009 when it launched its new search engine, Bing. And it looks like Bing took 0.24 percent share from Google.
According to StatCounter, Bing, which officially launched on June 3, attracted 8.23 percent of U.S. web searches in June. This was up from 7.81 percent for Microsoft’s Live search engine just prior to Bing’s launch and its 7.21 percent share in April 2009.
Google’s search engine share dropped slightly from 78.72 percent pre-Bing to 78.48 percent afterward. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s market share grew from 10.99 percent to 11.04 percent in June.
Bing’s search engine share peaked in the week of its launch, reaching 9.21 percent before settling at 8.45 percent by the end of June.
StatCounter’s figures diverge from estimates from comScore which have indicated lower share for Google and higher share for Bing.
StatCounter’s figures may (or may not) be more accurate. The Dublin based company tracks 4 billion pageloads per month through a network of websites, while other Internet usage research firms such as comScore, Compete and Nielsen, use smaller panels of Internet users.
comScore, for example, bases its findings on a panel of approximately 2 million people – 1 million residents in the U.S. and another 1 million from 170 countries or so.
Source: Reuters, “Microsoft’s Bing Search Wins Share From Google,” The New York Times, July 1, 2009
