Bing powered search is gaining ground on Google according to the latest data released by Experian Hitwise.
Bing/Yahoo gaining on Google
Bing powered search is gaining ground on Google, according to the latest data released by Experian Hitwise.
The Yahoo Bing duo now handles 30.1% of all U.S. searches – a month-on-month increase of 5% that comes mostly at Google’s expense. Google now handles 64.42% of all U.S. searches, a month-on-month loss of 3%.
Yahoo and Bing both achieved the highest success ratings, with more than 80% of all searches conducted on the two services leading to page views. Google was only able to manage a 66% success rating.
Matt Adams, managing director of the PPC, SEO and Digital marketing specialist at Go Optimisation said: “Google would argue that ‘searches’ aren’t the most reliable indicator.”
“With their new features (like Google instant) and better results (Panda update), Google would argue that their users find the results/information they’re looking for with fewer searches than before. However, reaction to both major changes have been mixed.”
Adams said other factors also contributed to the jump in Bing-powered search, pointing to Firefox setting Bing as its default search, the new Bing-optimised versions of Internet Explorer, and the new Facebook tie-up.
Adams said this final factor is especially important. Since the incorporation of Facebook into Bing searches, the market share of Bing/Yahoo has moved from 24% in October 2010 to 30% today.
The Facebook alliance also gave Microsoft a jump on personalised social search results, coming as Google bids to make a mark in the social search market with the +1 feature.
