The Boss
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- Aug 18, 2009
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Google and Bing Nip at Yahoo's Corpse
By Chris Thompson
Posted Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 3:02pm
ComScore, the Internet metrics service that everyone uses to assess the popularity of search engines, has just released its latest numbers for November, and the oracles declare Yahoo (YHOO) a dying gazelle, slowly bleeding away on the savannah, as Google (GOOG) and Bing circle the beast and nip at its flesh. Specifically, Google's share of the search market has risen again, from 65.4 percent in October to 65.6 percent last month. Bing's numbers also jumped, from 9.9 percent to 10.3 percent of the market. As for poor, ailing Yahoo, it dropped precipitously, from 18 percent to 17.5 percent.
That's a big dip for a company that can't afford any drop in its market share. Of course, Yahoo has an out, thanks to its proposed search and advertising deal with Microsoft (MSFT). But the feds still have to approve it, and you can bet the farm that Google is doing everything it can to make sure the anti-trust lawyers at Justice are as vigilant as ever. If they scuttle it (a long shot, but nothing's ever a sure thing), Yahoo will have a serious problem on its hands. Even if the deal goes through, CNN reporter David Goldman points out, Microsoft and Yahoo still have to contend with Yahoo's hemorrhaging; the two engines' combined share of the market has dropped four-tenths of a percentage point since the deal was announced this summer.
Of course, Bing's doing pretty well. And it's on track to do even better. Silicon Alley Insider's Dan Frommer reports that Microsoft has spent a bundle getting PC manufacturers to put Bing toolbars on their new machines. And as people snatch up new computers during their Christmas shopping, more people will be staring at those Bing toolbars. But Frommer's colleague Henry Blodget argues that this is just an illusory, temporary gain, one that won't come about as a result of Bing's natural superiority. "If we had billions of dollars to blow on distribution deals, the Business Insider could gain a few percentage points of search market share, too," he writes. "But that wouldn't mean we had a sustainable, profitable search business with a bright future."
By Chris Thompson
Posted Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 3:02pm
ComScore, the Internet metrics service that everyone uses to assess the popularity of search engines, has just released its latest numbers for November, and the oracles declare Yahoo (YHOO) a dying gazelle, slowly bleeding away on the savannah, as Google (GOOG) and Bing circle the beast and nip at its flesh. Specifically, Google's share of the search market has risen again, from 65.4 percent in October to 65.6 percent last month. Bing's numbers also jumped, from 9.9 percent to 10.3 percent of the market. As for poor, ailing Yahoo, it dropped precipitously, from 18 percent to 17.5 percent.
That's a big dip for a company that can't afford any drop in its market share. Of course, Yahoo has an out, thanks to its proposed search and advertising deal with Microsoft (MSFT). But the feds still have to approve it, and you can bet the farm that Google is doing everything it can to make sure the anti-trust lawyers at Justice are as vigilant as ever. If they scuttle it (a long shot, but nothing's ever a sure thing), Yahoo will have a serious problem on its hands. Even if the deal goes through, CNN reporter David Goldman points out, Microsoft and Yahoo still have to contend with Yahoo's hemorrhaging; the two engines' combined share of the market has dropped four-tenths of a percentage point since the deal was announced this summer.
Of course, Bing's doing pretty well. And it's on track to do even better. Silicon Alley Insider's Dan Frommer reports that Microsoft has spent a bundle getting PC manufacturers to put Bing toolbars on their new machines. And as people snatch up new computers during their Christmas shopping, more people will be staring at those Bing toolbars. But Frommer's colleague Henry Blodget argues that this is just an illusory, temporary gain, one that won't come about as a result of Bing's natural superiority. "If we had billions of dollars to blow on distribution deals, the Business Insider could gain a few percentage points of search market share, too," he writes. "But that wouldn't mean we had a sustainable, profitable search business with a bright future."
