Published in News

Microsoft hemorrhages hundreds of millions on Bing

by on22 September 2011


$5.5 billion so far
Microsoft is apparently losing hundreds of millions on Bing and the outfit has reportedly thrown about $5.5 billion at the fledling search service since it launched in mid 2009.

CNN is reporting that Redmond keeps losing between $550 and $700 million a quarter on the search engine, and there doesn’t seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel. Depending on whom you ask, Bing currently commands a 27 percent or 14.7 percent share in the search market. Google reigns supreme with 64.8 percent, down just 0.2 percent from the 65 percent it held when Bing was launched.

The fact that more than half of Bing’s share comes from cannibalizing Yahoo doesn’t bode well for Microsoft, either. Microsoft still believes it can come up with innovative features and compete with Google in the long term.

Partnerships with Nokia, Facebook and upcoming products such as Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7.5 could help Microsoft steal some market share from Google, but frankly it has a long way to go.
Rate this item
(1 Vote)