Microsoft’s Bing, incorporating OpenAI’s ChatGPT for text responses, witnessed a modest 1% increase in its search market share since the integration announcement, contrasting Microsoft’s ambitious projections.
The Struggle for Relevance
Despite Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s acknowledgment of a transformative period in the search category, Bing has grappled with relevance, as evidenced by a 33% decrease in user engagement before the generative AI update, according to SensorTower.
Positive Trends in User Engagement
On a positive note, Bloomberg Intelligence reported a substantial year-over-year growth in active mobile search app users in the U.S., more than doubling to 3.1 million in Q2 2023. Users also spent 84% more time on the search engine during this period.
Innovation Impact: DALL-E 3 Image Generator
Bing’s active user base surged to 4.4 million by the end of 2023, attributed partly to the introduction of the DALL-E 3 image generator. While this innovation didn’t enhance search capabilities, Microsoft’s VP of Search and AI, Jordi Ribas, noted a notable increase in usage.
Bing contends with fierce competition as Google, the industry leader, unveiled its experimental SGE search engine, integrating text answers alongside traditional links, adds NIX Solutions. Google’s plans to incorporate the Gemini language model further intensify the competition.