Microsoft posts modest search gains with Bing

StatCounter said Microsoft carved out an 8.23 percent share of the US search market in June, up from 7.21 percent in April and 7.81 percent in May.

Yahoo!'s share of the search market was 11.04 percent in June, up from 10.99 percent in May but down from 11.27 percent in April.

Google continued to dominate the search market with a 78.48 percent share in June, down slightly from 78.72 percent in May and 79.07 percent in April.

"At first sight, a one percent increase in market share does not appear to be a huge return on the investment Microsoft has made in Bing, but the underlying trend appears positive," said StatCounter chief executive Aodhan Cullen.

"Steady if not spectacular might be the best way to describe performance to date," Cullen said in a statement.

StatCounter said that globally, Microsoft increased its search market share from 3.08 percent in April to 3.30 percent in June.

Yahoo! fell from 5.48 percent in April to 5.15 percent in June while Google remained steady at 89.80 percent.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer earlier this month downplayed expectations for the success of Bing, but said the company was committed to challenge Google over the long-term.

The initial response to Bing has been "very good" Ballmer said, but it will not displace Google anytime soon.

"I don't want to overset expectations. We're going to have to be tenacious and keep up the pace of innovation over a long period of time," Ballmer told an economic summit in Detroit, Michigan.

Bing replaces MSN Live Search, which has languished in a distant third place behind market-leading Google and second-place Yahoo!

(c) 2009 AFP