Microsoft Bing search engine desktop market share declines

Microsoft, being one of the investors in OpenAI, has maintained a robust partnership with it. As per previous reports, in February, Microsoft launched the AI-driven Bing search engine and Edge browser, followed by an announcement in May that the preview version of Bing’s search engine would be accessible to all. These initiatives indicate Microsoft’s intent to leverage AI to outpace competitors and secure a larger share of the search engine market. However, according to data from Statcounter, Bing’s search engine desktop market share experienced a decline in April 2023.

In February 2023, Bing’s desktop market share was 8.19%, rising slightly to 8.23% in March, only to fall to 7.14% in April. In contrast, Google’s search engine shares were 86.64%, 85.53%, and 86.71% respectively, highlighting the significant gap between Bing and Google. Considering data across all platforms, Bing’s market share over the last three months was 2.81%, 2.88%, and 2.79%, respectively, indicating a decline in April compared to February.

Although the introduction of AI has coincided with a decrease in Bing’s desktop market share, it doesn’t suggest that Google is devoid of a sense of crisis. At the I/O conference a week ago, Google launched its own large language model — PaLM 2. Furthermore, Google announced the integration of AI into various applications, including Gmail and Docs, to enhance user productivity, a strategy also adopted by Microsoft.

While the integration of AI into search engines sounds promising, numerous users have reported various issues with Bing, with some even suggesting that its ability to respond to certain queries is inferior to keyword searches. As the competition between Microsoft and Google intensifies in the realm of search engines, it is hoped that it will result in a superior search experience for users.