Microsoft’s Bing has made significant gains on Google, with Similarweb data showing a 15.8% increase in traffic and page views since the integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in early February. In contrast, Google experienced a nearly 1% drop. Microsoft is capitalizing on strong public interest in ChatGPT to challenge Google’s dominance in the global search market. Bing app downloads have increased eightfold, while Google search app downloads decreased by 2%.
Bing’s market share gains are critical, as even a small shift can negatively impact Google. Bing’s chatbot integration has put Google in an unusual trailing position, with posts referencing “Bing” and “search” on social media platforms up 48% YoY, while those mentioning “Google” and “search” have decreased 71% MoM. Bing’s market share has grown to 2.6%, while Google’s declined to 96.7%. Microsoft shares have also risen by nearly 5% since Bing’s launch, while Alphabet’s stock has fallen by 1.8%. If Bing captures even a small portion of Google’s searches, it could affect Google’s ability to meet its ad revenue targets.