14 DAY TRIAL // With all the numbers and statistics going around it's been hard to get a clear idea of just how well, or bad, Microsoft's new decision engine was doing. The general feel was that, with Bing getting a lot of attention, it should have gathered some market share too and the fact that both Google and Yahoo are taking shots at it means it's doing something right. Now, two weeks after Bing's launch, we're getting new stats from research firm comScore confirming the ascending trend.
The new data shows a slight increase in the share of the total search result pages in the US as well as in average daily penetration among US searchers, which was up 3 percent, to 16.7 percent, in the June 8-12 work week, compared to May 25-29, the week before Bing's release, and also up 1 percent over the first week of the engine’s availability.
In terms of search result pages, Bing's share increased to 12.1 percent, also a 3 percent rise from the week prior to its release and a 1 percent increase from its first week. The growth isn't spectacular but it is becoming a trend that would be much more beneficial for Microsoft in the long run.
Interestingly, and perhaps not that coincidently, the Mountain View-based company added a small link on its home page yesterday, reading “Discovering the web: Explore the world of Google search.” The link leads to a page detailing some of Google's blended search capabilities, which some might interpret as an attempt to show that Google is a decision engine too. The page showcases some of the search features that Google Search has had for a while but which many users may not have been aware of.
The fact that the company is stepping up and promoting some of the features of its search engine, something it has rarely done before, shows that the competition may be heating up, which can only be a good thing for Internet users.