Not even six months ago, search engine experts dismissed suggestions that Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, could ever challenge Google. Now, those same experts have admitted they were wrong.
According to analytics firm StatCounter, Microsoft's new Bing search engine increased its US market share in July from 8.23% to 9.41%, while Google's share fell 1% to around 65%. According to Google's own data, the word "Bing" is the seventh most popular search term on Google in Australia.
And Bing's reach is set to grow, after Microsoft recently signed a long-awaited deal with Yahoo that will see the new engine power searches on all of Yahoo's websites. When combined, Bing and Yahoo will control 30% of the market.
While SMEs may not have bothered including Bing in their SEO strategies when it was first launched on 28 May, its impressive growth is leading marketing experts to rethink their methods.
Paul Fisher, chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, says Bing's introduction into the market is going to shake things up.
"I do think it's good for the industry that Microsoft has launched Bing, and introduced more resources, and I think it's good for consumers and advertisers to have more than one dominant player in the market."
The Bing turnaround
Not only are these experts admitting they were wrong about how Bing would perform, they're also encouraging businesses to get on board.
Chris Thomas, chief executive of SEO firm Reseo, warned businesses not to become too excited about Bing in a recent blog post. Now, he says, it's time to start thinking about SEO and even advertising with Bing.
"I do think SMEs should begin to start looking at it, mainly because it looks as though Bing has traction."
Jason West, chief executive of WebSalad, has started explaining Bing to his clients in the last month. He recently returned from a trip to the United States where Bing was the hot topic amongst SEO experts.
"There are more people starting to use it, and so definitely I think you could say Bing is something you cannot ignore any longer."
Jim Stewart, chief executive of Stewart Media, agrees that Bing should start becoming part of a company's SEO strategy, but also warns to carefully consider your target market.
"Our opinion is that you should pay attention to what is happening, but it really depends on your market. If your market is a Channel Nine viewership and the new PC market, then definitely, because Bing on Ninemsn will become the home page browser in new PCs, and the main driver for MSN has been the Nine Network site, and cross programming there."
Jasmin Batra, founder of Arrow Internet Marketing, says Bing has managed to survive the "novelty" factor by providing its users with relevant links.
"I've been quite confident for awhile that the market does need some change, and it's becoming monopolised with Google being "the" search engine. Competition is always good, and this deal between Microsoft and Yahoo will change the way people search - and that's always good."
How is Bing different from Google?
Bing certainly looks similar to Google - the basic home page displays the Bing logo, along with a text box ready for a new search - but there are a number of key differences behind the scenes that change how Bing works.
Microsoft designed Bing as a "decision engine", rather than a search engine. Bing attempts to decode the overall meaning of a phrase, rather than place an emphasis on individual words.
For example, if a user were to search for "kitchen sponge" in Google, generic information about kitchen sponges would appear. However, the same search in Bing would be more likely to produce information on retailers selling kitchen cleaning products.
