Bing, Android, iTunes, and the Coopetition of Business Change

Using an iPhone, but prefer the Microsoft Bing search engine? There’s an app for that.

In the latest proof that Business Change is about coopetition, Apple has allowed Microsoft to put a search application in the iTunes store. What’s next, a Bing application for Google Android?

Since unlike Apple, Google and Microsoft both have search engines they want you to use, that seems unlikely. On the other hand, Google doesn’t have the kind of rules for their app repository that Apple does, so if Microsoft wants in they can get there.

The question is . . . do they?

The Answer Guy says ‘yes’. Microsoft has nothing to lose by trying to grab the attention of their most formidable competitor’s customers, and with no real barriers stopping them from doing so making an Android version of the Bing application is a no-brainer. So the next question is: why bother?

This is where things get interesting. As a Droid / Android user, I’m not that interested in a Bing application. I already have all the functionality it offers built into my Droid, and the only business change that Bing on my Droid offers me is the need for a new learning curve. But Bing is different enough from Google that its fans will jump even if they use a phone running on the Google Android software.

Look for Bing for Android soon. Even if you’re Microsoft, getting more eyeballs more of the time in small incremental chunks matters. Grab that long tail. It’s the most important business change you can make.