Table of Contents
Why Microsoft’s Generative AI Fails Against Google
Introduction
Microsoft’s Generative AI Fails Against Google – Despite Microsoft introducing generative AI into the Bing search engine, the company has failed to reduce Google’s dominant market share. According to the latest figures from market tracker StatCounter, Google’s search market share in the United States in October was 88.1%, slightly higher than the October 2022 share of 86.75%. Meanwhile, Bing’s market share during the same period decreased from 7.4% in 2022 to 6.92% in 2023. Third-ranked player DuckDuckGo also experienced a decline in market share from 2.34% to 1.91%. Google’s search share is even stronger worldwide, reaching 91.55%, compared to Bing’s 3.11%. Bing’s desktop search share is better globally at 9.14%, although it is still down from 9.92% in 2022. In mobile searches worldwide—where Google holds a dominant position of 94.93%—Bing ranks fourth (0.53%), behind Russian search engine Yandex (1.64%) and Chinese search engine Baidu (1.2%).
Fill content
Strategic Mistake in Microsoft’s Implementation of AI.
When Microsoft announced in February that they would incorporate AI into Bing, some technology experts predicted that this move would give the company the long-awaited strength to challenge Google’s search market share. Apparently, that didn’t happen. The implementation decision by Microsoft may have contributed to its inability to transform early AI advantages into a larger part of search, said Greg Sterling, one of the founders of Near Media, a news, commentary, and analysis website, and a former contributing editor for Search Engine Land. He told TechNewsWorld that Bing and ChatGPT will initially be available only through the Edge browser. Microsoft thinks this will be a way to get people to download Edge. AI should be available in the browser out of the box. Thats part of it he continued. Another thing is that people rely on Google. Experts underestimate the power of inertia and habit.
Microsoft’s integration of AI into Bing has not provided significant appeal in the competitive search market, said Mark N. Vena, President and Senior Analyst at SmartTech Research in San Jose, California. He told TechNewsWorld that despite advances in AI algorithms Bing still struggles to compete with Googles dominance. “Users perceive Google search results to be more accurate and relevant, creating a challenge for Microsoft to attract and retain a significant user base.”
“The search engine arena is highly contested, and users’ established habit of using Google hampers Bing’s AI refinements from driving major changes in market share. Microsoft continues to grapple with the arduous task of shifting user preferences in the face of Google’s search supremacy,” he added.
Google’s Dominance as an Entrenched Search Vendor.
Rob Enderle, President and Senior Analyst at the Enderle Group, a consulting services company in Bend, Oregon, pointed out that Google is an entrenched vendor. He told TechNewsworld that it will take a long time to knock out a captive vendor. People form habits. They are used to using Google. He explained that displacing established suppliers requires significant marketing. He said that people should not like the tools they use because they dont care if the tools they use are good enough. He said that not only do you have to convince people that your device is great but you also have to convince them that what theyre using isnt good enough.
Encouraging people to use Bing’s new AI presents them with a number of challenges, he continued, moving them to a new application and then encouraging them to use AI. Theres a learning curve to using AI properly and were talking about a lot of people who cant figure out Boolean logic to use Google properly he said. “It’s a powerful platform, but it requires training to use it, and people don’t like to train,” he added. Enderle stated that the separation between where Bing needs to be to attract and retain significant market share from Google is considerable.
Microsoft should go further with creative AI so you can ask questions verbally and get the answers you want. It hasnt been developed yet and the results arent as great as Microsoft had hoped.
Conclusion
In spite of Microsoft’s efforts to incorporate generative AI into Bing, the search engine has struggled to diminish Google’s overwhelming market share. According to market tracker StatCounter’s latest data, Google’s dominance in the United States search market remained formidable, with a share of 88.1% in October 2023, slightly higher than the previous year’s October figure of 86.75%. In contrast, Bing’s market share during the same period experienced a decline from 7.4% in 2022 to 6.92% in 2023. Even third-ranked search engine, DuckDuckGo, saw a decrease in market share from 2.34% to 1.91%. Google’s global market share is equally robust, standing at an impressive 91.55%. Despite Microsoft’s integration of generative AI, it appears that breaking Google’s dominance remains an elusive goal.
