May 11th, 2010 by Nick

As the future of the sphere of search is uncertain, it might be considered foolish to speculate about the prospects of a specific search engine. However, a SEO company has to be alive to emerging challenges and thus has to consider various possible scenarios when planning strategies for its sites. Furthermore, it is only natural that individuals should engage in debate about potential future developments in an economic sector which is rapidly changing due to technological innovation. Moreover, if a development in an industry has attracted plenty of publicity it is guaranteed to get individuals talking. For these reasons, the possibility of Bing making further inroads into the search engine market is still a live SEO topic.

Bing went online in its fully-fledged form back in June 2009. There was then some rather loose talk (in the sense of being premature) about Bing emerging as a serious contender for Google. Google has been the dominant search engine on a global basis for many years, although its popularity does vary from nation to nation. Google’s users appreciate a diversity of its features and qualities; many of them are now very loyal to the firm. Since Bing’s launch, evidence of its relative progress has been inconclusive. It is currently difficult to ascertain whether or not it will ever have the impact its architects hoped for.

There is no consensus amongst the search engine optimization community about when and if Bing will emerge as a genuine competitor to Google. Some experts believe that Bing’s efforts to cooperate with social networking sites may make it a force to be taken seriously. Bing did not come straight out of a blue sky as it followed on from a previous Microsoft-backed search engine which was behind Google and Yahoo! for a considerable time period. Bing is now in pretty much the same position. However, Bing has not slipped into obscurity and several independent individuals would like it to prosper and keep pressure on Google to maintain its impressive record of innovation.

While precise figures fluctuate over time and in any case vary depending on location (if the statistics are not international in scope), it is possible to get snapshots of how the various search engines are doing in their quest for hegemony. The figures show that Bing has been sneaking up on Yahoo! since its launch. Bing has even contrived to get a little closer to the mighty Google. Sometimes trends in the United States are an indicator of what will happen elsewhere. In February 2010, comScore indicated that Bing had attained an 11.5% share of the US market.

Google is still pretty much where it is accustomed to being positioned in the world of search. However, it must remain vigilant if it is to maintain its comfortable location. Perpetual innovation will probably keep it well ahead of Bing, but it is still too early to really tell in what direction Bing is headed. It possesses some high quality features, but it will arguably have to raise its game if it is to ever become a genuine contender.

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