Microsoft’s Bing search engine has reached a significant milestone of 100 million daily active users. This milestone was achieved shortly after the launch of the AI-powered Bing Chat feature, which has helped drive usage among users who had previously not used Bing.
Despite this milestone, Google still holds a significant lead with more than 1 billion daily active users. Nonetheless, Microsoft is positive about the growth, citing steady progress over the years and a significant boost from the Bing Chat feature.
Microsoft has been highlighting its recent growth, especially with the new chat feature. Around a third of Bing Chat testers are new users, with an average of three chats per session, resulting in over 45 million total chats since the feature was previewed.
Bing’s Potential for Market Share Expansion
Apart from Bing Chat, Microsoft’s Edge browser has also contributed to Bing’s usage. Microsoft has been actively promoting Bing through Edge updates, Windows updates, and by discouraging users from downloading Google Chrome. New features like having Bing search and create in the Edge sidebar are expected to further boost growth.
Since the launch of the Bing chatbot a month ago, Microsoft has added various improvements, including personality tones and restrictions to curb inappropriate responses. The company has been gradually easing these restrictions over the past week.
Microsoft’s growth in Bing’s usage aligns with its plans to increase revenues in the digital ad market, estimated to be worth around $500 billion. The company sees every 1% increase in the search advertising market as a $2 billion revenue opportunity for its advertising business.
Microsoft’s advertising business has grown significantly in the past year, from $10 billion to $18 billion in revenue, much of which is attributed to Bing. However, the company is still far from Google’s $200 billion advertising revenue in 2022.
While Microsoft acknowledges it is a smaller player in search compared to Google, it remains optimistic about its potential for growth and capturing more market share.
Should Australian Businesses Embrace the ‘Bing Trend’?
Aside from its exponential growth, the recent launch of Bing’s AI chat feature has been a key driver of its growth, and some users in the middle of the marketing funnel on Google have gravitated towards Bing because of this feature. This offers businesses an opportunity to engage with potential customers who appreciate the interactive and responsive nature of AI chat.
Here are more implications for Australian businesses:
New Advertising Opportunities
With Bing’s user base growing to 100 million daily active users, it offers an additional platform for businesses to advertise their products and services. While Google still dominates, diversifying advertising strategies could help businesses reach new customers.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Strategy
With Bing’s growth, businesses might need to consider optimizing their websites not just for Google but also for Bing. Although both search engines share many SEO best practices, there are some Bing-specific strategies that businesses could employ.
AI Customer Service Options
The success of Bing’s AI chat feature may encourage Australian businesses to consider or increase their use of AI chatbots for customer service. These can provide efficient, around-the-clock customer support and enhance the user experience.
Increased Competition in Digital Advertising
Bing’s growth indicates that Google’s dominance in the search engine market might be challenged, potentially leading to more competition and options in the digital advertising space. This could eventually influence advertising costs and strategies.
Privacy Considerations
Bing’s growth could also signal a shift in user preferences regarding data privacy. As Microsoft promotes Bing as a more private alternative to Google, businesses may need to consider privacy-conscious marketing strategies to maintain consumer trust.
Streamline Your Digital Transformation with WebBuzz
Remember, though, while Bing’s growth is notable, Google remains the dominant search engine. Businesses should continue to prioritise Google in their strategies but consider Bing as part of a diversified approach to digital marketing.
Embracing Bing as part of your digital strategy is not about replacing Google but diversifying your approach.
By integrating Bing into your digital transformation journey, you can tap into a growing user base, benefit from reduced competition, target unique demographics, leverage Microsoft integration, harness voice search and AI capabilities, and explore new advertising features.
These advantages can collectively contribute to driving digital transformation within your business, fueling growth, and positioning your organisation for success in the changing digital landscape.
At Webbuzz, we’re pioneers in the art and science of digital marketing transformation. We help clients de-risk the process of transformational change.
If you want to integrate Bing into your business systems but you don’t know where to start, our digital transformation experts can help you.
Contact us today or call us on 1300 41 00 81.
