How did Bing survive over the years?
How many times have you heard someone say, ‘hey good question, let’s Google it!’? Have you ever heard someone say ‘just Bing it’? Nobody consciously uses Bing. Microsoft has tried its best to make people use it. They’ve redesigned their website, spent millions on advertising, used Bing rewards, etc. They always ended up making Google look better. But Bing still remains Bing, a success.
Why haven’t they abandoned the project, yet?
Bing isn’t actually a failure. Far from it, it is a story of data and control and the future of the internet. In 2012, Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, announced that Bing was a serious contender. Their list of top searches was something like this:
1.Google
2.Goggle
3.Googlle
4.Suicide
5.Googler
6. Hot Sauce
Source: thebeaverton.com
After seeing Google and Apple’s market share, he wanted to position his brand as one of the best. He launched Windows Phone, which he considered to be world-changing, a sensation and a direct competition to the iPhone. He even went to an extent where he hosted a funeral for iPhone. “There is no chance that Apple is getting any significant market share. No chance.”, said Steve Ballmer. Literally, iPhones were carried in caskets, signalling its demise.
When I looked at the market share of Bing, I wiped my glasses, cleared my cache, restarted my laptop and then threw it away and bought a new one. I just couldn’t believe it. One-third of US internet searches use Bing. Like Google, they sell ads to the highest bidder and multiply it by 1.3 billion users a month. Eventually, made $5 Billion in 2017.
The best part is Bing actually makes a profit. However, companies like Twitter and Instagram lose money for years hoping that money will come eventually but Bing is spinning money.
How can this be?
Bing utilises the power of defaults. 82% of the world’s computers run on windows. People just don’t change their settings. Internet Explorer and now, the Edge has the same principle that made it stick around for long. Microsoft and Apple might not be friends, but they had a common rival, and an enemy of the enemy is considered a friend. (Google)
Apple would love to keep a distance from Google. After Google maps, Apple launched Apple maps (well, it didn’t change anything significantly). This is where Microsoft came in. Siri bid adieu to Google and said hello to Bing in 2013. Now, Google sends Apple a $3 Billion cheque and Apple lets Google be its default search engine.
Hierarchy of control. If people have to go out of the way to find Bing, they will not. It all depends on the power to decide what users see. The sole goal is to climb up the hierarchy pyramid. The lower something is, the more companies it relies on which increases the risk and leads to its shut down. Physical devices also draw the market towards you. Jeff Bezos is the richest man on earth, not because he is good at making profits or making charts, but due to the fact that he understands the power of bringing amazon visible to you. Fire phone, Kindle, Echo, etc. make very low profits but the goal was to put the device in your hands, making it accessible to you.
Another important element is data; more data means more and better ads and hence, more profits. Companies collect data and sell it to other companies for profits.
Microsoft stuck to Bing even after a point where many companies would call it quits, and eventually began to see results. 54% of all the Bing users are above the age of 45. Bing has a 2.38% worldwide market share, which doesn’t look like a lot but it makes Bing the second most used search engine as of Feb 2019, according to Statcounter.
The spread of Microsoft Windows 10, is a primary factor in the growth of Bing. Searches conducted by its assistant, Cortana, are powered by Bing. People won’t give up using Windows any time soon, ergo, Bing will prevail to exist and succeed. The math is simple, Bing will eventually capture the market, or at least stay a strong competitor as Microsoft grows.
