Will Bing Overtake Google by 2012?

Tweet

Google has been king of the hill in searches for the better part of the 21st century. Recent trends suggest, though, that Microsoft’s Bing might be gaining ground. Can Bing dominate the search industry in a year’s time?

Bing is said to be growing at an impressive rate over the past six months. According to Experian, Google currently has a 64.42% share in US searches, while Bing-powered searches (including Bing.com and Yahoo.com) account for 30%. Bing.com’s own market share is at 14.32. This data is as of March 11.

Bing-powered searches are growing at a rate of 5% per month, while Google’s share is declining by about 3% monthly, according to Experian. This means that in about 10 months, Google’s and Bing’s Market share will cross paths, with Bing overtaking Google by January 2012.

That is a big if, of course. Bing needs to maintain that growth rate, in order to grab market share away from Google.

Will Bing be able to maintain this momentum? Now the other part of the question is whether search is still that important at all. Google is trying to focus its efforts on social, still not conceding to the likes of Facebook and Twitter in that sphere. Google might be focusing on other aspects of the Internet right now. But does it mean it’s willing to let go of its market dominance in search?