"Bing with ChatGPT 'Shows Up on Google Search,' Market Share at 3% Still Insufficient"

Google Market Share Above 90% Since 2009
Bing Market Share Declines Despite ChatGPT Integration
"Google Is the 'Default'... Vicious Cycle Worsens"

Microsoft (MS) took bold steps by integrating the generative AI chatbot 'ChatGPT' into its search engine 'Bing,' but it appears to have failed to surpass Google's dominance.

According to web traffic analysis site 'StatCounter' on the 27th, Google's global search market share last month was 91.56%. Since statistics were first published in 2009, Google has never fallen below the 90% mark.

Bing, which holds the second-largest market share after Google, stood at 3.1%, which is actually a decrease compared to 3.59% a year ago. Following Bing are Russian search service Yandex (1.84%), Yahoo (1.2%), and China's Baidu (1.02%).

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Photo by AP Yonhap News

Bing's failure is likely to be even more painful for MS. Previously, MS launched Bing in 2009 to surpass Google in the search market, but it faced criticism for poor search quality and failed to gain popularity.

Last year, MS counterattacked by acquiring a 49% stake in OpenAI, which sparked the 'generative AI boom.' MS's investment in OpenAI is expected to reach up to $10 billion.

Meanwhile, while OpenAI has been steadily improving ChatGPT, Google has struggled to commercialize its own generative AI, 'Gemini.' The official launch of Gemini has been postponed from November this year to January next year.

Because of this, there were expectations that Bing, integrated with generative AI, could surpass Google. The new Bing engine adds ChatGPT's responses alongside traditional portal search results. Users can also continue conversations by asking additional questions to the AI. However, contrary to predictions of a 'tectonic shift' in the search market, Google's dominance has proven to be much more solid.

Microsoft Bing equipped with ChatGPT
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

So, what is the reason Bing with AI failed to surpass Google? MS points to Google's 'distribution dominance.'

According to the US 'Wall Street Journal (WSJ)' and others, Satya Nadella, MS CEO, testified in person on the 2nd of last month at the US District Court in Washington DC during the Google antitrust trial, stating, "Everyone wakes up in the morning and searches on Google," adding, "When such a habit is formed, Google becomes the 'default,' and this creates a vicious cycle where Bing can never catch up to Google."

He further argued, "The distribution advantage that Google has today does not disappear. Despite my positive outlook on AI, this vicious cycle of default choice can be further reinforced," and claimed, "The idea that users have a choice of search engines is a 'complete fake.'"