Hitwise: Bing Both Grows & Drops In June; Google Still Tops
Just in from Hitwise, the first month-to-month figures since the launch of Bing. And the figures show Bing has both gained and dropped in the same month. Confusing? Yes it is! — Here are the month-to-month figures:
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the first month-over-month read on Bing since Microsoft launched it in May, and Hitwise — the same firm whose August 2007 data showed Microsoft's search share sliding behind Google and Yahoo — reports Bing simultaneously gained and lost ground in June. The mixed signal matters because launch-week curiosity traffic was expected to fade; the open question is what remains underneath.
The story travelled widely enough that Mashable reframed it around reach rather than rank, arguing Bing's traffic now exceeded that of Digg, Twitter and CNN. That framing shift — from search-share percentage to raw visitor volume — shows how contested the measurement of Bing's debut already was within weeks of launch.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gets its first post-launch scoreboard line: Hitwise confirms Bing gained share month-to-month in June, but the same figures show losses elsewhere, leaving the launch verdict ambiguous.
- Google's position is unchanged at the top despite Bing's arrival, so the immediate competitive pressure lands below it rather than on it.
Second-order effects
- Yahoo becomes the measurable middle player: with Bing claiming new share, any further Microsoft gains come at Yahoo's expense more than Google's, sharpening the fight for the number-two slot.
- Advertisers and rivals now have dueling scoreboards to reconcile — Hitwise's panel numbers versus other trackers' estimates — so methodology differences start shaping how Bing's momentum is priced into search ad decisions.
Third-order effects
- If Bing holds even part of its launch bump, US search hardens into a three-player contest measured month by month, turning Hitwise-style share releases into a standing barometer for whether Microsoft's investment is working.
- Sustained third-engine growth would give publishers and ad buyers a credible alternative bid source for the first time in years, weakening the single-buyer dynamics of the search ad market.
The trend: Search share measurement is becoming a monthly public scoreboard in Microsoft's challenge to Google, with Yahoo holding the position both sides are fighting over.