‘Bing, which used to be MSN Search is gaining market share. While the numbers may vary in different reports, overall it’s clear that Bing.com has been growing in usage during its first month. ComScore Inc. reported Bing increased to 8.4% of Web searches in the US which is an increase from 8% in May. StatCounter reported June 5th that Bing had displaced Yahoo as the #2 search engine in the USA, based on their stats during the first of June, with Bing at 16.28%, Yahoo at 10.22%.and Google with a massive lead at 71.47%.

More recent reports show that early small lead may have dropped off slowly, but was back on the rise again towards the tail end of July. Their search growth will grow at a faster rate once the Yahoo partnership receives regulatory approval. It is reported that Bing users are 55% more likely to click on a sponsored listing (adwords type ads) compared to when a searcher sees a sponsored listing at Google!’ reports Brad from www.getfoundingoogle.com.au

So what is this Thing called Bing?

Joshua Moore of www.moorethought.com declares that ‘Microsoft wants the Internet back!’

He adds, ‘When I was back in high school, Microsoft was comfortably in control of a number of things. Legitimate software was everywhere, Internet Explorer was the main way to surf the internet and Yahoo and MSN were the way to search for things. Fast forward eight years and the world has changed… Microsoft finds itself an old player in a new game where:

1. People download free software or pirate rather than buying.
2. Google is the leader on the internet.
3. More and more people are moving away from Internet Explorer.
4. Individuals do not want to use all their computer’s RAM upgrading to Windows.
5. Email is moving away from MS Office and Live (aka Hotmail) to Gmail and others.

To stay a leader, get into every market.

Microsoft is trying to regain some traction with its new search product, Bing. Bing, it appears, is designed to be a more appealing option than Google for individuals wanting to use search when looking for ‘real’ sites.’

So is this going to create a Google vs Bing scenario?

Well Ben Parr of www.mashable.com states that ‘Now, while my three searches may not have been definitive, BlindSearch is using everybody’s votes to provide a running tally of which search engine is best. As of publishing in June, Google is in the lead with 44%, with Bing in second at 32% and Yahoo last at 24%. This isn’t a completely random sampling, as tech-savvy users are likely the ones doing the most searches on BlindSearch currently. Yet it provides for a good approximation and will only increase in accuracy as the sample size increases.

So does this put the Google vs. Bing question to rest? The answer depends on how you choose your search engine. If you care only about results, this might be a deciding factor for you. However, if you care about branding, user experience, design, and integration with other social media tools, then these results are only part of a much larger equation. In any case, the consumer will end up deciding which search tool is best. ‘

So stay tuned….but my advice to anyone who is marketing on the Internet – give Bing a Fling. Try it. Test it. And attract more traffic to your website and do more business.