Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:09 PM/CST
Data from analysis company ComScore suggests that Microsoft Bing is incrementally gaining in the U.S. search engine market, along with Google, while Yahoo is falling. While that speaks positively of Bing's long-term prospects, it remains to be seen how well the search engine will fare once it expands more into international markets.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010 4:50 PM/CST
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seemed noncommittal at the Search Marketing Expo in Santa Clara, Calif., over whether his company would consider purchasing microblogging service Twitter, with which it has an agreement to incorporate results onto Bing. But as Microsoft's recent dealings with Yahoo have shown, sometimes a simple partnership with a company can extend at least some of the benefits of an acquisition without the drain on cash and energy.
Thursday, February 25, 2010 4:48 PM/CST
A leaked Microsoft document details the user information that Microsoft retains from its various online services, as well as what the company is willing to share with law enforcement and under what circumstances. While it says Microsoft retains IP connection history from Hotmail and MSN Groups and personal information from Xbox Live, the document is less clear on what information is retained and accessible from Windows Live SkyDrive and Office Live.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:42 PM/CST
Microsoft and Yahoo received clearance from both the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice to enact their 10-year search and advertising agreement, setting up Bing to become Yahoo's underlying search engine. However, with Yahoo's U.S. search engine market share falling, the deal could have fewer long-term benefits for Microsoft than originally anticipated.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 11:41 AM/CST
Microsoft's Bing search engine gained U.S. market-share in January, according to statistics firm comScore, while Yahoo and Google saw incremental decreases. While that's good news for Bing, the erosion in Yahoo's market share could have negative repercussions on the Microsoft-Yahoo search-and-advertising deal signed last summer, which will see Bing powering search on Yahoo's sites.
Thursday, January 28, 2010 4:29 PM/CST
Bing now offers an "Investor Data" tab that gives users a granular view of a company's stock performance and finances, replicating features available on Yahoo and Google. The paralleling of features between the search engines on the market is ultimately beneficial for consumers, allowing them multiple avenues for pursuing information.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:10 PM/CST
The latest data from research firm Nielsen suggests that Bing's share of the U.S. search engine market fell in December 2009, while Google's rose. Was this a temporary dip, or a portent of a more sustained slide? More data from other research firms will be needed to paint a fuller picture, but in the meantime Microsoft may have to consider how much impact Bing's new features and refinements are having on the marketplace.
Friday, January 08, 2010 2:35 AM/CST
Microsoft's Bing team plans to further refine the search engine's processes in 2010, focusing in particular on improving its algorithms that structure raw data in intelligent ways. As both Google and Bing continually improve and add features, it may only be a matter of time before search stops looking like the traditional "page of blue hyperlinks" to which the online community is accustomed.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 1:44 PM/CST
Microsoft told Reuters it is committed to increasing its search engine market share in China. However, with players such as Google and Baidu already dominating that arena, and questions about whether the Microsoft-Yahoo search and advertising deal will expand outside the United States, Microsoft's strategy remains questionable.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 5:17 PM/CST
Comments by a Microsoft executive at last week's Bing conference indicate that much-rumored negotiations between Microsoft and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. over whether to delist the latter's content from Google could in fact be nonexistent or overplayed. Microsoft seems determined to build Bing's market share through a combination of new features and partnership deals with entities such as Yahoo.
