The Redmond-based giant admits that “Bing” is rarely used as a verb

Sep 13, 2012 07:49 GMT  ·  By

It's no secret that Bing, Microsoft's very own online search engine, is on a growing trend when it comes to the overall number of users. At least, that's what Microsoft claims. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that everything goes exactly as planned.

People rarely use the term “Bing” as a verb, just like it's already the case with Google, although Steve Ballmer, the company's chief executive, told The New York Times in 2009 that this particular search engine has all the chances “to verb up.”

Three years have passed and Adam Sohn, general manager of influencer marketing at Bing, doesn't seem worried at all. Instead, he said in an interview with Fast Company that he's more than happy to use the term “Google” for online searching, but to actually use Bing as the main search engine.

“I think we’re conflicted but happy if someone said ‘Google it’ but they were going to Bing and giving us the query,” Sohn was quoted as saying. “So if you say, ‘I’m going to Google it,’ and you go to Bing — cause that’s what you have set as the default — over time, you’re going to understand the brand that you are using.”

Bing is currently the default search engine in Internet Explorer, Microsoft's very own web browser, but the company also offers users the option to switch to Google with just a few clicks. Many people actually do this and yet, Microsoft officials claim that users are actually very satisfied with Bing's performance.

Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is one of the first Microsoft officials that stepped in front of the media and forecast a bright future for the company's search engine, emphasizing that Bing indeed has the potential to become a verb, just like Google. But, honestly, how often do you “Bing” something on the Internet?