Bing has moved the needle for Microsoft, but not much.
That is according to figures from comScore, which showed an increase in traffic to the new Microsoft search service in the days since it was launched. Curiosity about Bing lifted the number of Microsoft searches by 20 per cent from the week before and the numbers held steady for five days, suggesting searchers liked what they saw and have been coming back for more.
That still only amounts to two extra points of market share, though.
The figures suggest that Steve Ballmer’s patience is about to be tested again. The Microsoft CEO has repeatedly pointed out that catching Google will take a lot of effort and a long time. The early returns show just how true that is.
At least Eric Schmidt did Bing the service of stooping to disparage it today. Speaking on Fox Business Network, he tried to brush it off as just another of Microsoft’s annual attempts to improve search (it’s at least much more than that).
Carol Bartz at Yahoo took the same dismissive line last week, but then thought better of it. In her own Fox appearance earlier this week she changed tack and decided to pay Microsoft a compliment on the launch.
Meanwhile, Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land beats up Bartz herself for appearing reactive and failing to come up with a more coherent explanation of what Yahoo is up to in search.
