Must Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 review

Topic: Microsoft

Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

Summary: Beating Yahoo is meaningless to Microsoft. Bing needs to dent Google.

Larry Dignan

By for Between the Lines |

The search news of the day is that Microsoft core searches have overtaken Yahoo for the first time ever, according to comScore.

I'd be more wound up about comScore's December data if Microsoft didn't power Yahoo's results.

Note Microsoft's alleged big leap in the search standings.

The problem is that Microsoft is really competing with itself when it comes to upending Yahoo.

Explicit searches show a wash for Bing-powered searches. Microsoft was up 2 percent and Yahoo was down 2 percent for no gain. Google's explicit search queries from November to December were up 3 percent.

In the end, Google had 68.1 percent of the search market in December, up from 67.6 percent in November. Bing share slipped to 26.5 percent share in December, down from 26.7 percent in November.

Bottom line: Beating Yahoo is meaningless to Microsoft. Bing needs to dent Google.

Topics: Microsoft, Social Enterprise

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

24 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Who made a big deal of this?

    "Note Microsoft???s alleged big leap in the search standings."

    The only one making a big deal about this is: you, only so you can tell us that this is no big deal. This is the very definition of a strawman. I looked at comscore's press release and nowhere did they even mention that MS passed Yahoo. When I did a news search on "bing yahoo" (no quotes) I get 2 stories: 1 on CNet and one on Newsday that leads to a 404.
    toddybottom
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

      @toddybottom

      Like all tech wars it's about personal preference. I prefer Bing and use it daily since it suits my needs.
      Rob.sharp
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

      @toddybottom

      nice one!
      fo128
      Reply Vote

  • The context here is more relevant

    Microsoft is losing money hand over fist on Bing. But they are taking a bit of the premium profits out of Google by providing an alternative.

    Bing is an entirely defensive play. It's entirely about making life a little less profitable for Google in hopes it will make it harder for Google to do other things that could eat Microsoft's lunch down the road; like making a very popular OS for phones and other devices.
    HollywoodDog
    Reply Vote

    • So? Google's losing money hand over fist with most of their software

      @HollywoodDog <br>yet you never berate them. And I wouldn't call Android "popular", it's just what comes with the cheap/free phones.<br><br> Most people I know with that hardware have no idea what Android is.
      William Farrel
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

        @William Farrel Even if people don't know what they are using just by numbers Android is a popular phone. (though by preference I do like Windows Phone better)...
        xtreem0
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

    Give it time and Bing will make a dent in Google. Every quarter we hear about Bing's share rising, Google's share flucuates but mostly its been trending downwards. Since Google lacks any direction in any of their products and services its just a matter of time before Bing puts that dent in. Meanwhile Google employees will be sitting around playing with their office toys wondering what happened.
    Loverock Davidson-
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

      @Loverock Davidson- +1. It's just a matter of time. Microsoft has time and money to play this game. The will eventually eat into GOOGs one and only one revenue stream.
      oraman
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

    According to the data, this has absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft, other than obviously powering Yahoo. By that, I mean Microsoft's Bing didn't grow...rather, Google is murdering off Yahoo. Saying Microsoft overtook Yahoo is silly when all of the share went straight to Google.
    Aerowind
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

      @Aerowind +1. It's just a matter of time. Microsoft will eventually lose this game like they have lost so many others. They will eventually eat into too much cash and end up with yet another halted 'product' like they did with Kin and Zune, amoung others. Must really hurt to try to copy others stuff, sinking boatloads of money, only to have to call it quits.
      The Danger is Microsoft
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

    The bottom line is Google is still the best search engine out there. People using Bing are all the ones using IE and have never heard of Google which gives much better search results
    shellcodes_coder
    Reply Vote

    • Actually not true, Bing beats google in core relevence of results.

      Its not just the ux where bing is out inovating and being copied by google. They are quietly gaining real share and real advertizer attention and it will only grow as they grow xbox, wp, and w8 tablets.
      Johnny Vegas
      Reply Vote

    • Not true

      @shellcodes_coder, I have done actual comparisons, performing the same search on Google and Bing, and consistently get better results from Bing. Most people seem to think that Google is the internet, and are not aware that there are other choices. When I show them Bing and suggest they give it a try, I find that most agree with me that Bing is a superior search engine.
      itpro_z
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

        @itpro_z
        You lost all credibility when you claimed most people don't know Bing. Not only do they spend more on marketing than Google, but they are also the default search engine on 90+% of computers.

        There was a recent article about MS employees going around the internet bashing any bad reviews of their product. Kind of makes you wonder how people can claim a product that has more marketing and is default and loses market share can still be claimed by some to be consistently better. If it was better people wouldn't be leaving it.
        anono
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

      @shellcodes_coder
      Bet you are wrong! I've heard of Google, but I don't use it!
      eargasm
      Reply Vote

  • there's a reason why

    The only reason for this is that Microsoft ships their junk set to Bing as the default and at least 50% of my customers do not know how to change search engines, or even understand the difference between them, or even care. So by default Bing gets business. I prefer to give zero business to Microsoft outside of the operating system costs, we need to have competition to keep them in line and Google, Apple, Yahoo, whatever, whoever provide that.
    johnnydoe1894
    Reply Vote

    • Is the reverse also true?

      @johnnydoe1894, you seem to like competition. Does that also apply to Google, considering that they dominate the search market? Even if you prefer Google, a strong competitor like Bing pushes them to do better.
      itpro_z
      Reply Vote

    • exactly

      @johnnydoe1894
      start a new computer with windows on it. open ie. try to change the search to google. it ain't 1, 2, 3 done. it ain't obvious. install chrome. start it up. first thing you see, before the browser window, is the option to set your search engine.

      they can't help but gain when the average user has no idea or doesn't care.
      when you've got some market share by default, and you're willing to lose billions of dollars, then how can you not dent google?

      google didn't advertise for 10 years. there were lots of search options (several by ms alone). google won by people choosing it. bing will gain share only by moneyball tactics and it being the default on new pc's.
      oneleft
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

        @oneleft
        When I upgraded to IE9, before it completed its installation, it asked which search engine I wanted as the default. Of course, I chose Bing!!
        eargasm
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft search overtakes Yahoo. So what?

    Bing and Yahoo are pretty much one in the same....
    bb_apptix
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close