By Momei Qu

Contributor, Stock Traders Daily -  Rule-Based Trading Strategies

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(La Jolla California) Does Google (Nasdaq: GOOG – Trading Report) have a new competitor? Though the name Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT – Trading Report) is anything but new, the company is inching in on the seemingly untouchable search engine leader.  

In its first week of operating, Microsoft’s new search engine Bing saw its market share grow from 9.1% to 11.1%, the first time into double-digits in the last two years, according to Comscore. Google leads the market with about 65% share, followed by Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO – Trading Report) with about 20%. Microsoft places third and AOL, which has recently separated itself from Time Warner (Nasdaq: TWX – Trading Report) is fourth with about 3% market share.

The name Bing refers to the “light bulb” that goes off in someone’s head when a great idea hits, though reviews were mixed on whether or not the new system has that effect. Revolution Magazine commended Bing on being user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Bing has installed Explorer Panes on the left side to break down searches into relevant web groups, and processes data smartly to help consumers find a restaurant or cheap hotel. However, most of the positive comments relate to features other than the search itself. According to Wired.com, Bing does more than just search for relevant links, though the actual search sometimes returned inaccurate results. 

The general consensus seems to be that Bing is indeed an improvement from its predecessor, Windows Live, but many challenges remain as Bing tries to move forward. The initial jump in market share could be contributed to the “freshness” of the idea. Many users hear about a new product and test it out but will not use it again unless they were impressed.

An even bigger challenge is how to win over the majority of users who view Google as synonymous with search. Phrases such as “Google it” are widely used and reflects the reality that people automatically think of Google when they want to look up something on the internet. To tackle the problem, Microsoft has hired JWT to craft a comparative campaign – similar to Apple’s Mac vs. PC ads. 

Google doesn’t seem to be concerned that Bing will pose a threat to its dominance. According to CEO Eric Schmidt, “It’s not the first entry for Microsoft… they do this about once a year.” He also stated that Google is looking to expand its offerings in mobile and clouding computing technology through acquisitions of other companies. 

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