Google might have made it into the “Hall of Fame” by being included in the dictionary as a verb, but it’s not the only search engine available. Sure, you’ve probably never heard someone say that they’ve binged something. If you did, you probably had no idea what they meant. And, if you’re a kid of the 90s, the first thing that you likely think of when you hear the word “bing” is Chandler of Friends. However, Bing still gets over a billion visits per month on average and is the second most popular search engine across the globe.
To help you get to know Google’s main competitor better, we’ve scoured the Internet (and let’s rather not say which search engine we used to keep the article as unbiased as possible). In this article, we’ve also included some statistics about Microsoft, which owns Bing, and the search engine market in general so that you can get a more comprehensive picture of where this search engine fits into the bigger realm of things.
30+ Bing Stats: Users, Revenue, and More:
- 1. It Was Launched in 2009
- 2. It’s Available in 105 Languages
- 3. It’s Available in 238 Countries
- 4. It’s Part of the Big Five
- 5. It Gets Over 1 Billion Monthly Visits On Average
- 6. It Accounted for Almost 7% of the Global Search Market
- 7. The Microsoft Search Network Has a 14.2% Share of the Global PC Market
- 8. It Ranks 28th in Global Internet Engagement
- 9. A Third of Its Traffic Comes From the US
- 10. It’s Less Popular in Russia and China
- 11. Visitors Spend Less Than 3 Minutes Each Day
- 12. One-word Searches Are the Most Popular
- 13. The Microsoft Search Network Is Used More for Product Research
- 14. The Microsoft Search Network Is More Popular Among Men
- 15. A Third of Searchers Graduated
- 16. Microsoft Made $8+ Billion in Search Advertising Revenue
- 17. Search Advertising Revenue Is Expected to Exceed $18 Billion by 2025
- 18. The Microsoft Search Network Audience Has More Buying Power
- 19. The Microsoft Bing App Is Also Available on Xbox
- 20. Microsoft Is the Second Largest Company in the World
- 21. Microsoft Is Ranked the Third Most Valuable Tech Company
- 22. 2021 Was a Record-setting Year for Microsoft
- 23. Half a Million Advertisers Have an Account
- 24. In the UK, Search Engines Have More Weight Than Customer Reviews
- 25. Its Marketing Strategy is Focused on Direct Traffic
- 26. Facebook Is the Most Searched Word in the US
- 27. Google Is the Most Searched Word Globally
- 28. 8% Visited Google Before Bing
- 29. Its Bounce Rate is Between 28 and 38%
- 30. It Has a Customer Satisfaction Score of 71
- 31. It Has Its Own Rewards Program
- 32. Most Users Are Also Interested Programming
- 33. It Launched a COVID-19 Map in 2020
- 34. It Developed a New Search Engine Protocol
- 35. It Partnered with Shopify
- 36. Search Success Will Depend on Voice Assistants
- 37. Ranking First Will Become More Difficult
- 38. There’s a Skeptical Attitude Towards Search Engines
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. It Was Launched in 2009
In June 2009, Bing was launched as a rebranded version of MSN Search, Windows Live Search, and Live Search, the earlier search engines of Microsoft. Early on, it gained some acceptance and popularity.
Microsoft also made a deal with Yahoo! in 2009. This deal initially stated that Bing was to replace and power Yahoo! search engines. In 2015, this deal was changed a bit which meant that Yahoo! only had to use Bing for most of its searches.
2. It’s Available in 105 Languages
As of October 2021, Bing is available in 105 display languages. This includes the main languages such as French, German, Russian, Italian, and Spanish, but also a number of African languages, like Afrikaans, isiZulu, and Igbo, as well as a couple of Indian languages, such as Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi.
3. It’s Available in 238 Countries
As of October 2021, Bing is available in 238 countries. It’s even available in Vatican City, the globe’s smallest fully independent nation-state.
4. It’s Part of the Big Five
Microsoft, which owns Bing, is one of the five tech giants that have solidified their digital imprint and grown their influence on the global economy. The other four companies are Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. Collectively these five are known as GAFAM, the few companies that dominate the digital scene.
5. It Gets Over 1 Billion Monthly Visits On Average
Source: statista.com
According to data shared by Statista, Bing averaged more than 1 billion monthly visits for the first six months of 2021. February was the only month that its total global visitor traffic did not surpass the billion mark. Since April 2021, there was a steady increase and June recorded the most worldwide visits – a whopping 1.84 billion for the first half of the year.
6. It Accounted for Almost 7% of the Global Search Market
As of September 2021, Bing accounted for almost 7% of the global search market. Google is still the undisputed leader by far boasting 86.64% of the market share. Yahoo is in third place with 2.75%.
Though, other sources estimate that this market share is more in favor of Google. For example, according to Backlinko, it currently has only a 2.7% share of the worldwide search engine market.
7. The Microsoft Search Network Has a 14.2% Share of the Global PC Market
The Microsoft Search Network includes Bing.com and websites owned and operated by Bing like AOL.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, Bing.de and Bing.co.uk. Online data about this network reveals that it boasts a 14.2% share of the global PC market.
8. It Ranks 28th in Global Internet Engagement
According to Alexa, Bing.com ranks 28th in global internet engagement. It’s up by one spot in the past 90 days. In the US, Bing was ranked 9th at the time of writing this article with the majority of its visitors coming from the United States (46.3%).
On the other hand, according to data shared by Similarweb, Bing.com is only in 30th position according to traffic rank. With regards to category rank (search engines), it’s in third spot, as of September 2021.
9. A Third of Its Traffic Comes From the US
According to Similarweb, as of September 2021, almost a third (31.31%) of its traffic comes from the United States. It’s followed by China (23.77%), Germany (4.12%), Japan (3.93%), and the United Kingdom (3.88%).
Though, Alexa estimates that a bigger chunk comes from the US (46.3%). Plus, its calculations also state that 7% of Bing’s visitors come from India and only 4.9% from China.
Source: alexa.com
10. It’s Less Popular in Russia and China
Bing is less popular in some markets such as Russia and China. The reason for this is because these countries have their own local search engines.
For example, Yandex is a Russian search engine and web portal. According to Statcounter GlobalStats, as of September 2021, Yandex has a whopping 41.69% search engine market share in the Russian Federation. Bing merely has 0.42%. It looked slightly better when looking only at the desktop search engine market share (0.7%), but still doesn’t come close to Yandex (46.71%).
11. Visitors Spend Less Than 3 Minutes Each Day
The average time that a visitor spends each day on Bing.com is 2 minutes and 51 seconds.
However, Similarweb lists its average visit duration as more than double that. As of September 2021, it estimates that Bing.com’s average visit duration was 7 minutes and 8 seconds. It also estimates the pages per visit at 5.42.
12. One-word Searches Are the Most Popular
While Google absolutely dominates the global search engine market irrespective of the length of the query, it’s interesting to note that Bing was used the most for one-word searches. In the case of Google, its search engine market share was bigger for longer search queries.
13. The Microsoft Search Network Is Used More for Product Research
Source: about.ads.microsoft.com
Microsoft Search Network data reveals that 55% of searches on the Microsoft Search Network used it for online product research. Brand discovery also made up a substantial chunk with 38% of searchers using the search engines for brand discovery. In the US, product research was even more popular with 60% of searchers using the network for this purpose, while in the UK even more (65%) used it for product research.
14. The Microsoft Search Network Is More Popular Among Men
With regards to demographics, Microsoft Search Network data shows that the search engines are used more often by men. More than half (56%) of the searchers identify as male, compared to 44% who identify as female. The vast majority of users are also under the age of 45 (73%), while just over half indicated that they’re married with children (53% and 58% respectively).
15. A Third of Searchers Graduated
According to online data, 34% of searchers who use the Microsoft Search Network graduated from college. This is also reflected when you analyze the demographics by income. Almost 40% shared that they have a household income that places them in the top 25%.
16. Microsoft Made $8+ Billion in Search Advertising Revenue
Source: statista.com
For the past five years, Microsoft’s global search advertising revenue has increased year on year. In the 2021 fiscal year, Statista’s data reveals that it generated about $8.53 billion in revenue from search advertising.
In the 2020 fiscal year, Microsoft generated $7.74 billion in search advertising revenue.
However, Bing can’t be credited for the entire amount as Microsoft Advertising and other external partnerships also form part of Microsoft’s search business.
17. Search Advertising Revenue Is Expected to Exceed $18 Billion by 2025
According to data shared by Statista, it’s estimated that search advertising revenue for 2025 in the United Kingdom can amount to 18.38 billion US dollars.
18. The Microsoft Search Network Audience Has More Buying Power
The Microsoft Search Network that represents visitors to Bing web search, AOL.com, and Yahoo! web search spends almost a third (29%) more online than the average internet searcher when they shop via their desktop computers.
19. The Microsoft Bing App Is Also Available on Xbox
About a year ago, the Microsoft Bing app was also released on Xbox. This meant that users could now also search the web via their console (and voice search is supported). What’s more, the app also combines Microsoft Bing data on games with info, such as in-game progress, from the console to give users a full search results experience across their devices.
20. Microsoft Is the Second Largest Company in the World
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/263264/top-companies-in-the-world-by-market-capitalization/
With a market capitalization of 1,966,6 trillion US dollars, Microsoft is the globe’s second biggest company in 2021. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was only in fifth position with 1,538,9 trillion US dollars. The largest company as of April 2021 was Apple. While Apple and Microsoft aren’t competing over search engines, you don’t need to know a lot about computers and software to know that Apple and Microsoft are long-time rivals.
On a side note, to make more sense of these figures, market capitalization shouldn’t be confused with market value. Market capitalization refers to the worth of a company based on the total value of all their shares. Market value is broader and looks at what a company is worth – its overall value. Various factors including corporate debt, the market environment, and profitability can impact market value. It’s useful for figuring out if the shares are overvalued and settling on a price in the event that a company needs to be sold.
21. Microsoft Is Ranked the Third Most Valuable Tech Company
When looking at brand value, Microsoft was ranked the third most valuable tech company across the world boasting a brand value of about $410 billion US dollars. In this prestigious category, it lost the battle to Google which ranked second boasting a brand value of nearly 460 billion US dollars.
Needless to say, Apple was the most valuable tech company globally when looking at brand value. They’re simply one of the ultimate masters when it comes to branding (something you would definitely know if you ever bought an Apple product).
22. 2021 Was a Record-setting Year for Microsoft
In 2021, Microsoft’s global revenue surpassed 168 billion US dollars. What makes it even more impressive is by how much it managed to increase its global revenue from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, the company’s annual revenue worldwide was just over 143 billion US dollars. While its global revenue increased each year for the past five years, this is the biggest increase during this time period.
23. Half a Million Advertisers Have an Account
According to data shared by MRS Digital, by means of Microsoft Advertising, Bing has attracted half a million advertisers. Although Google is still the preferred choice, the advantage of Bing is that there’s not nearly as much competition.
24. In the UK, Search Engines Have More Weight Than Customer Reviews
In the United Kingdom, the majority of consumers (67%) depend on search engines when they need to decide on purchases. Less than half of consumers rely on customer reviews when deciding which purchases to make.
25. Its Marketing Strategy is Focused on Direct Traffic
As of September 2021, direct traffic was Bing.com’s major source of traffic. More than 85% of its traffic came from this channel.
Its second biggest traffic source was referrals. Just over 8% of its desktop traffic came via this channel. The top referring sites were msn.com (47.58%) and rewards.microsoft.com (8.82%).
Search only accounted for 2.69% of its traffic. Of this, 99.77% was organic and only 0.23% was paid.
The top organic keywords were:
- bing
- bing maps
- bing translator
- bing images
The top paid keywords were:
- canva
- bing
- youtube.com
Social accounted for 1.85% of its traffic. YouTube was the biggest source (51.41%), followed by Facebook 18.3%, and LinkedIn 7%.
A September 2021 analysis revealed that display advertising was merely 0.21%.
26. Facebook Is the Most Searched Word in the US
According to data shared by Ahrefs, the most searched query on Bing in the United States as of 2021 is Facebook. It boasted a search volume of 12,983,821. It’s followed by YouTube (11,452,722), and Google (8,060,698). Yes, people are searching for Google via Bing (it’s hard not to read too much into that one).
Other popular keywords are:
- Gmail
- Amazon
- Bing
- News for you
- Yahoo
- eBay
- Top Stories
One thing that’s clear from this data is that branded queries prevailed. More than 60% of the most searched queries were about well-known brands. Ahrefs also noted several of these search queries were branded and navigational. For example, the phrases Facebook log in and Gmail login boasted a search volume of 3.2 million and 1.3 million respectively.
27. Google Is the Most Searched Word Globally
However strange you might find it, people are using Bing to search for Google and in their numbers. Globally, the keyword Google boasted the highest search volume of 40,958,757, according to Ahrefs data. It’s followed by YouTube (35,279,042) and Facebook (28,550,537).
Other popular keywords include:
- Gmail
- Amazon
- Yahoo
- Hotmail
- eBay
- Facebook log in
- Netflix
- Google maps
As you can see, there’s not much of a difference between US and global searches. In fact, close to 70% of the top 100 US searches also appear on the global list.
Searches that were popular globally, but not in the US include:
- Google Chrome
- Outlook
- Daily Mail
- YouTube music
An interesting observation that Ahrefs highlights is that this data reveals that users are downloading Google Chrome via Bing. This can indicate that many are dissatisfied with the browser that they’re currently using (likely Microsoft Edge) as well as their search engine.
28. 8% Visited Google Before Bing
Data shared by Alexa reveals that 8.35% of its visitors visited its biggest rival – Google – just before visiting its search engine. Interestingly enough, 7.56% visited Google right after they visited bing.com. Could it be that the same visitors realized their mistake and returned to Google again?
29. Its Bounce Rate is Between 28 and 38%
Alexa estimates that bing.com’s bounce rate was 28.5% the past 90 days. On the other hand, Similarweb suggests that it can be as high as 38%. Whichever the case, it’s still optimal. According to Semrush, anything between 26% and 40% is excellent.
30. It Has a Customer Satisfaction Score of 71
In 2021, Bing had a customer satisfaction score of 71, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. In 2020, it had the same score. The highest that its score has ever been was in 2011 when it was 82. Since then it steadily declined, apart from 2016 when it jumped from 72 to 75.
On the other hand, Google’s customer satisfaction score is 79. It has never dipped below 79 in the past five years.
The only other search engine that has a score lower than 71 is AOL with 69.
31. It Has Its Own Rewards Program
One of Bing’s unique selling points is that it has its own rewards program - Microsoft Rewards. By signing in on your PC or mobile device, users can earn rewards whenever they search on Bing. What’s more, users who search with Bing via Microsoft Edge, the browser designed for Windows 10, can earn even more points. The points earned can be redeemed for gift cards or it can be donated to a cause.
32. Most Users Are Also Interested Programming
According to Similarweb, most users who visit Bing.com are also interested in programming and developer software. Other interests include computer electronics, consoles, and accessories.
33. It Launched a COVID-19 Map in 2020
While Google is setting the pace, one instance where Bing was ahead of Google was with its COVID-19 interactive map. In March 2020, Microsoft launched an interactive map to share information about the COVD-19 spread. It shows the number of cases per country. Users can also get information about the currently active cases, recovered cases, and fatalities. Links to relevant videos and news stories are also included in the dashboard. According to the tech giant, it gets the data from a number of sources that include the World Health Organization (WHO), Wikipedia, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DCD).
On the other hand, Google only announced its new COVID-19 map feature in September 2020. The COVID layer in Maps shows important information about the number of COVID-19 cases in a region for the past seven days and whether or not the cases are increasing or decreasing.
34. It Developed a New Search Engine Protocol
Perhaps the phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” partly inspired Bing and Yandex to collaborate on IndexNow, a new search engine protocol initiative that they announced earlier in October 2021. In short, with IndexNow website owners will be able to describe any alterations that they’ve made to their website. This way, they’ll no longer have to wait for web crawlers to describe these changes.
On the Microsoft Bing blog it explains, “IndexNow is an initiative for a more efficient Internet: By telling search engines whether an URL has been changed, website owners provide a clear signal helping search engines to prioritize crawl for these URLs. IndexNow is also an initiative for a more open Internet.”
35. It Partnered with Shopify
Not only did Microsoft Bing partner with Yandex, but it also announced in October 2021 that it will collaborate with Shopify to increase product selection for shoppers. Via the Shopping tab on Microsoft Bing, shoppers will be able to view a bigger range of products as well as better prices and deals. What’s more, they’ll also be able to check out by means of the Shopping tab on the search engine. On the Microsoft Bing blog, the company also states that they’re planning many more shopping enhancements to offer more convenient shopping experiences.
36. Search Success Will Depend on Voice Assistants
According to GWI, over 80% of internet users still visit traditional text-based search engines on a weekly basis. As mentioned, Google continues to be the go-to web domain for the vast majority. However, increasingly more people are adding new search behaviors to their daily online activities, one being voice search.
GWI also reports that about 25% of all internet users in the 16-64 age group use voice assistants such as Alexa and Siri every week. It’s especially high in India and China where over 30% of internet users indicated that they’ve used a voice search assistant to collect info in the past seven days.
As a result, several of the leading brands in the digital world are taking advantage of voice search. For example, Bing introduced voice search in September 2020 to allow users to use their voice to ask questions. All a user has to do is click on the microphone icon in the search box. A drop-down menu will show up and the search engine will play an audible noise to indicate that it’s all “ears” for your query. After you ask your question, you’ll be directed to the results page and the site will also read back the result to you. It’s available on desktop as well as in the Bing app on iOS and Android.
37. Ranking First Will Become More Difficult
A voice assistant usually delivers search results as a spoken answer. Plus, it also, in many instances, shares only one result per search query. This means that ranking first will become even more critical in voice search.
38. There’s a Skeptical Attitude Towards Search Engines
Search engines might be intertwined with our day-to-day tasks, but users are still skeptical about them. One common concern is that search engines can include biased information which make users distrust the validity of the results displayed.
Wrapping Things Up
You probably didn’t have to read these statistics to know that Google is still the preferred search engine in 2021. It gets more monthly visits. It has a much bigger market share. Its brand value is also higher.
Though Microsoft, which developed and owns Bing, is still bigger than Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Also, Bing launched an interesting initiative IndexNow that sounds promising. According to Microsoft, big companies such as eBay, LinkedIn, MSN, and GitHub have already indicated that they’re planning to migrate to IndexNow via the Bing URL submission API. Currently, it doesn’t seem as if Google will be participating in this initiative.
The Apple versus Microsoft/Jobs versus Gates war has kept us on the edge of our seats for decades. Will the Google and Bing search war make for the same blockbuster stuff in the next coming years?
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Microsoft Rewards work?
Microsoft Rewards is a free program that’s included in your Microsoft account. To join, you simply need to sign up and check that you’re still signed in to enjoy the rewards. Participants can earn points when they search on Bing.com and make purchases in Windows 10 or via the Microsoft Store online. Points can be used for things like sweepstakes, gift cards, or donations to a charity. However, searching on Bing.com or buying things from the Microsoft Store doesn’t earn points in all countries.
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is a new search engine protocol initiative that Microsoft Bing and Yandex announced in October 2021. With IndexNow, website owners will be able to describe changes that they’ve made to their website. This means that they’ll no longer have to wait for web crawlers to describe these changes. Microsoft explains that its goal is to make the Internet more open and efficient. It will help website owners to provide a clear signal which will make it easier for search engines to prioritize crawl.
Who’s bigger: Google or Bing?
Google is much bigger than Bing.com and is still the undisputed leader in 2021 by far boasting over 86% of the market share. As of September 2021, Bing accounted for less than 10% of the global search market. It’s not only market share but also brand value where Google dominates. Microsoft, which owns Bing, was ranked the third most valuable tech company with a brand value of about $410 billion. Google was ranked second boasting a brand value of $460 billion.
Does Bing support voice search?
Yes, it does. Bing introduced voice search in September 2020 to allow users to use their voice to ask questions. All a user has to do is click on the microphone icon in the search box. A drop-down menu will show up and the search engine will play an audible noise to show it’s ready for your query. After you ask your question, you’ll be directed to the results page and the site will also read back the result to you. It’s available on desktop as well as in the Bing app.
What does GAFAM stand for?
GAFAM is the acronym for Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. Together these five tech giants - the big five - have solidified their digital imprint and grown their influence on the global economy. They’re the handful of companies that dominate the digital scene.
