BING.com…A Microsoft Fad or Google’s worst nightmare?

Starting June 3, 2009, Microsoft has launched their new search engine, BING.com. It is rumored they have spent $80-100 million dollars just to advertise their new decision engine. It is a direct attack on search giant, Google.com. The launching of their new site also competes with giant Yahoo.com.

There is much hype about this “new” search engine Microsoft has launched. The actual design of the website is supposed to urge users to look at things other than what is in blue. This is very key to advertisers who are looking to purchase advertisements on BING. Already in the UK BING.com ranks as number 8 in the search engines amongst 100 others. The average stay on the new site is about 8 minutes then the user goes back to their regular search engine. Ranking slightly below Yahoo.com, Bring is still no where close to Google.com.

When CEO of Google.com Eric SchmidtEric Schmidt stated openly his lack of concern with Microsoft’s new baby, he said it couldn’t copy the functions of Google. He felt this is just another attempt of Microsoft trying to get more customers. Interestingly enough, he made a point in saying Microsoft spent too much money advertising and Google only spent a fraction of the cost to launch google.com. Google is number 1 because of innovation not spending a lot of money on advertisements. Google is about searching and innovation He stated, “Google is about getting all the information and organizing it. Yahoo has a different strategy. We think ultimately BING will evolve to a different strategy as well."

The money spent in advertising this new search engine could very well just be hype and soon a loss of money. Google has spent money of re-launching Ask.com only for two years later; their search was down 28%. Another issue to consider is the functionality of BING. Unlike Google and Yahoo, Bing doesn’t have the one stop shop. Customers need a reason to stay on the site. Yahoo has mail, news, chat & etc and Google has almost everything; Bing doesn’t have that right now. Executives at Microsoft assure people there is more to come at Bing. What they are implementing is the idea of having traveling searches. This economy does not exactly promote traveling as much, so that idea itself may not work to Microsoft’s advantage. Also, they are promoting product searches and advertisement rates. Online advertisements have dropped 5% the first quarter of this year. On the upside, Microsoft search share went up from 9.1 to 11.1. Their actual search has also has gone up from 13.8 to 15.5.

It is safe to say sometimes it’s too early to tell. Google is supposed to be launching something new next week. They have a You-tube video that is about an hour long explaining what it is. Google will not ignore Microsoft’s attempt at challenging them but it will be interesting to watch the growth of both companies in the next few months.
There is a lot of hype around BING.com which means it’s a good time to jump on the bandwagon of low advertisements. While people are trying out the new site there are opportunities to make a few sales. With Microsoft’s track record, I wouldn’t permanently continue to advertise on BING.com. If Google is getting the results small businesses are looking for then, “if it ain’t broke then don’t try to fix it.”


Written By Mackleen Gresham
June 11, 2009