Despite frequent criticism, Bing continues to attract users and generate massive earnings
================================================================
Since 2023, several factors have contributed to a shift in the search engine market, with Bing gradually gaining ground against Google's dominant position.
Bing, Microsoft's search engine, held a modest 2.97% of the global search market share in 2023. However, it has since grown to 3.96%, according to recent reports. This growth is particularly notable on desktop, where Bing's market share has risen from 8.58% to 11.8% between 2023 and 2025.
One of the key factors driving Bing's success is its integration with AI technology. The introduction of Bing Chat, later rebranded as Copilot, significantly improved the quality of search results, leading to increased user engagement.
Microsoft's Chief Visionary Officer (CVO), Jordi Ribas, discussed the growth of Bing on LinkedIn, highlighting the impact of AI on Bing's strategy.
While Google's market share has dipped slightly, it remains above 90% globally. However, it has lost 5 percentage points in the global desktop market share. Critics have pointed to Google's AI-generated content, which sometimes lacks context, as a potential reason for this decline.
Google's search results have been mocked for terrible suggestions during the early days of AI integration, with examples including recommending adding glue to pizza sauce and suggesting eating rocks.
Despite its status as a meme, Bing manages to make a substantial amount of money. Microsoft's search and news advertising revenue grew by $1.6 billion over the last year, with a significant portion coming from Bing. If traffic and acquisition costs are excluded, search and news advertising revenue grew 21% year-over-year.
This growth is not surprising, given Microsoft's CEO's statement that a one point gain in the search advertising market could generate $2 billion in revenue for Microsoft's advertising business.
Bing's growth can be attributed to strategic partnerships, such as its long-term partnership with Yahoo! Search and its integration within Facebook search in 2010. These partnerships have helped accelerate user engagement, with reports indicating that Bing reached 100 million active users shortly after the launch of Bing Chat.
In conclusion, Bing's market share and revenue growth over the years have resulted from strategic partnerships, continuous feature enhancements, and more recently, aggressive incorporation of advanced AI technology. This growth, despite Google's overwhelming market dominance, demonstrates the potential for competition in the search engine market.
[1] Corden, J. (2024). Why are users flocking to Bing? A closer look at Google's competitor. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.windowscentral.com/why-are-users-flocking-bing-closer-look-googles-competitor
[2] StatCounter (2025). Global search engine market share statistics. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/desktop/worldwide/
[3] Statista (2025). Market share of search engines worldwide in 2023 and 2025. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/269991/market-share-of-search-engines-worldwide/
[4] Microsoft (2023). Bing Chat: The future of search. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://blogs.microsoft.com/bing/2023/02/08/bing-chat-the-future-of-search/
[5] ZDNet (2024). Bing's market share grows as Google's slips. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/article/bings-market-share-grows-as-googles-slips/
- The success of Microsoft's Bing search engine, initially holding merely 2.97% of the global market share in 2023, has significantly increased to 3.96%, largely due to its advancements on the desktop platform.
- Bing's growth can be attributed to its integration with AI technology, such as the introduction of Bing Chat, later rebranded as Copilot, which improved search results, leading to increased user engagement.
- Microsoft's Chief Visionary Officer, Jordi Ribas, acknowledged the impact of AI on Bing's strategy in a LinkedIn post discussing the growth of Bing.
- Despite Google's dominance, with a global market share above 90%, it has lost 5 percentage points in the global desktop market share, potentially due to AI-generated content that lacks context.
- Microsoft's search and news advertising revenue grew by $1.6 billion over the last year, with a substantial portion coming from Bing, even though traffic and acquisition costs are not included.
- Bing reached 100 million active users shortly after the launch of Bing Chat, thanks to strategic partnerships like the long-term collaboration with Yahoo! Search and integration within Facebook search in 2010.
- The growth of Bing, despite facing competition from the market leader Google, demonstrates the potential for competition in the search engine market, aided by continual feature enhancements, strategic partnerships, and the aggressive incorporation of advanced AI technology.
