In light of the Yahoo-to-Bing transition that took place in August, marketers have been eager to see how consumers respond to Microsoft's search portal. As Brafton reported in August, Nielson said Bing is now the No. 2 search engine, and comScore rankings suggest Bing and Yahoo combined accounted for 28.5 percent of explicit core searches in August. Now, online research firm Compete has released search rankings that calculate how much of the market is represented specifically by Bing-powered searches following the commencement of the Yahoo/Microsoft search alliance.
Compete says Bing's market share rose 1.8 percent in August over July, while Google's market share dropped by 2.8 percent from the previous month. At the same time, the firm suggests Microsoft's overall market gains are considerable as searches powered by Bing accounted for 26 percent of the market. This percentage was calculated based on Yahoo and Bing shares after the two search engines officially joined forces.
Further attesting to the drawing power of Bing, Compete says Yahoo experienced 6 percent month-over-month gains in August after it adopted Bing search technology. The firm says Yahoo saw increases in both unique searchers and searches per consumer following the search alliance.
Though Google remains the search giant, businesses may want to start more carefully optimizing their sites for Bing in light of its consistent gains. Also, Yahoo paid searches are poised to be powered by Bing soon. Brafton reported that brands can now migrate their accounts to the Microsoft adCenter, and it may be wise to prepare campaigns in time for the holidays.
