Google vs BING: Crunching the Figures Reveals a Different Story
Wars and battles have always been lost or won on the balance sheet long before the outcome became apparent in the battlefield and it is no different when it comes to the battle raging between Google and Microsoft’s BING.
Much has been made of Google’s cost-cutting exercises recently and even more has been made by reports which state that in terms of search queries BING has surged ahead experiencing strong growth while Google, by comparison, has experienced a drop.
Those who have been following Google’s innovations in search know that its higher relevancy and instant search updates have reduced the number of queries individual users will make before they find what they are looking for. This would naturally lead to a reduction in the number of queries even as the search share of the market increases for the company.
That, of course, is subject to analysis. Microsoft has fudged an answer without refuting it outright and the proponents of each search engine have drawn themselves up into two camps where the truth is hard to define from the almost-lie.
There is one thing which does not lie however and that is the balance sheet. The first quarter report coming from Google had the company beat expectations yet again, despite upward revisions some of which were made just days before the figures were released. Google appears to be going from strength to strength and is now beginning to focus on providing sustainable profit streams from areas of its business which lie outside that of search.
Microsoft’s report also showed that the company is doing well, though this time it missed beating Apple by $700 million. What is of crucial importance here was its statement that “Online Services Division revenue grew 14% year-over-year primarily driven by increases in search revenue.” Search revenue figures are the true indicator of search market share increases and a clear sign of how successful a company’s web policy is.
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