Microsoft lags behind Google despite head start in Al search

The new Bing search engine with artificial intelligence chatbot is 'cute, but not a game changer'

- Tom Dotan

When unveiled an Al-powered version of Bing in February, the company said it could add $2 billion of revenue if the revamped search engine could pry away even a single point of market share from Google.

Six months later, it looks as if evenl percentage point could be a tough target, with some new data showing Bing's place in search has barely budged-partly because of how Microsoft handled its high-profile rollout.

In July, Bing had 3% market share worldwide, according to analytics firm StatCounter. That is the same share it had in January, the month before the launch of the new Bing. Another report, from analytics firm Similarweb, shows Bing had around 1% of Google's monthly visitors in July, around the same it had in January.

Microsoft is calling the new Bing a success. It disputed outside data, saying third-party data companies aren't measuring all the people who are going directly to Bing's chat page.

With generative AI chat, Bing can now give people direct, conversational answers to queries instead of long lists of links. It has put the often overlooked engine at the forefront of the hot new technology. Still, the habits of those using internet search engines are firmly entrenched, overwhelmingly with Alphabet's Google, which has fended off prior attempts to dent its dominance.

Microsoft A chat interface is still an unusual way for people to try to find information online, said Daniel Tunkelang, a search consultant who has worked with Google and LinkedIn, now owned by Microsoft.

The new Bing is "cute, but not a game changer," he said.

The addition of AI helped boost Bing's user base by 10% to 98 million in the months from its February launch through June, according to measurements from analytics firm YipitData.