Microsoft Corporation: Could Bing Finally Be a Real Challenger to Google Inc?

MicrosoftBing has always been an also-ran in the search engine market.

It is not that Bing has been a low-ranking player -- the No. 2 choice in the United States for a number of years. Instead, the problem is that Google has been so dominant that second place has hardly mattered.

This has not been a Coca-Colavs.Pepsibattle with a clear market leader and a serious challenger. Instead, it has been more like Coke versus Royal Crown Cola, where one company has such a large lead that the rival is more of a punchline that a real contender.

It is possible, however, that those days are over, as Bing has gained more than enough market share to be taken seriously.

What has Bing accomplished?The Microsoft search engine has managed to crack a 20% share of the U.S. desktop market for home and work locations. Google still leads the way with 64.4%, but the search giant dropped slightly, while Bing gained. Specifically, Google fell 0.1% with Bing adding 0.3%.

That may be only a tiny gain for Microsoft, but it is the first time Bing has moved above the 20% market share level, according to USA Today. The jump also means that "Bing's share of U.S. Internet search is bigger than the market share of Apple's Mac in the computer market," the paper reported.

It is also worth noting that Bing powers the results for Yahoo! -- a recently renewed arrangement -- giving Microsoft nearly one-third of all searches. Google is still dominant, but Bing has become a major player in its own right.

comScore Explicit Core Search Share Report* (Desktop Only)March 2015 vs. February 2015 (Total U.S. -- Desktop Home and Work Locations)

Source: comScore qSearch.*"Explicit Core Search" excludes contextually driven searches that do not reflect specific user intent to interact with the search results.

How is Microsoft doing this?Bing has been leveraging its Rewards program to give people incentive to use its search engine. Simply conducting searches through Bing lets users earn points that can be turned in for gift certificates at popular retailers. That is a strategy likely to appeal to millennials, who have grown up with games powered by that model.

"The program -- the Internet search version of a frequent-flier program -- has been helpful in breaking Google's de facto grip on search with users looking to get a piece of their own online revenue," wrote USA Today.

It is a novel strategy that makes sense -- while Google is the dominant player, there is little difference in the results between either search engine. Giving people a reason to use one over the other (beyond whatever the default choice is set on your browser) could send people toward Bing.

How big a deal is this?It is a victory for Microsoft but only a minor one. Making gains in desktop search is nice, but Google still dominates when it comes to mobile, with a 93% share according to NetMarketShare. That market is going to be much harder for Bing to crack, because the search engine has little to no presence on the Android and Apple iOS devices that control the tablet and smartphone worlds.

Desktop gains are something for Microsoft to celebrate, and the numbers could become stronger if Windows 10 proves more popular than the beleaguered predecessor it is replacing. If that happens, more people could upgrade to new Windows computers with Bing as the default search engine.

Microsoft could also make gains in mobile if Win10 proves to be popular, and the fledgling market for WIndows Phone and Windows-powered tablets grows.

Bing is far from toppling Gooogle, but Microsoft has shown that it has the potential to make this a real race. The underdog is in a stronger position than it has ever held before.

The article Microsoft Corporation: Could Bing Finally Be a Real Challenger to Google Inc? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Daniel Kline owns shares of Apple and Microsoft. He tends to use whatever search engine is the default on his computer.The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Coca-Cola, Google (A shares), Google (C shares), PepsiCo, and Yahoo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Google (A shares), Google (C shares), PepsiCo, and Yahoo and has the following options: long January 2016 $37 calls on Coca-Cola and short January 2016 $37 puts on Coca-Cola. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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