Microsoft is inviting British search engine users to compare their search results with Google’s, introducing their ‘”Bing It On” campaign to the UK for the first time. Google, which has a suggested market share of up to 90% in the UK, is being challenged by Microsoft, the computer giant behind Bing. By encouraging people to compare search engine results, Microsoft believe they can entice Google users to jump ship.
Critics respond to the Bing campaign
In the wake of criticism, Bing was forced to defend ‘Bing It On’ last week. The campaign came under attack from a professor, numerous search engine experts, and Google’s own Matt Cutts. According to Matt Cutts, who posted the study on his Twitter page, the Microsoft campaigns “flaws… were pretty obvious.” Matt Wallaert, a Bing behavioural scientist, took to blog comments to defend the campaign, and also posted a blog on Bing search titled ‘defending the Bing It On challenge’.
Google losing its dominance in the UK?
The launch of the ‘Bing It On’ campaign is a timely one, as reports which date back to 2012 have suggested that Google is slowly losing its dominant position. Reporting on search shares, Experian Hitwise UK released data showing that, for the first time in five years, the UK search share of the internet-giant fell below 90%. StatCounter, a statistical company providing more up to date information, is currently reporting that the Google UK search engine share for September was 88.8% – a fall from the 91.4% reported this time last year. StatCounter also reported that Bing has risen from 4.3% to 6.7%.
Could the campaign be a success?
‘Bing It On’ has certainly made waves in the search engine community and, with Google responding to the campaign and providing Microsoft with publicity, it’s likely that the approach will prove fruitful – if only marginally – for the search engine. Bing will continue to slowly increase its market share, however, for the foreseeable future, Google will remain the king of the search engines. Rest assured, Google is still the search engine to focus on for search engine optimisation.
