Microsoft’s search engine Bing was launched in an attempt to take on Google in 2009, but it has never really been able to muster up a serious challenge. However, the company recently released data that suggests that its search solution might be more popular than most would expect.
On Thursday, Microsoft hosted a webcast looking at the search platform’s automation features, dubbed “The Art and Science of Bing Ads.” While it was going on, the Bing Ads team tweeted out some interesting statistics about Bing usage around the world, according to a report from OnMsft.
Microsoft’s metrics indicate that Bing has a nine percent share of the global search market, handling 12 billion individual searches every month. It has a particularly strong user base in the United States, claiming 33 percent share of the overall market. It also caters to 25 percent of the search market in the United Kingdom.
These tweets were accompanied by the phrase, “Bing is bigger than you think,” which seems to be something of a slogan for this mini-campaign. From an advertising perspective, it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to try to erase Bing’s reputation as a distant rival of the dominant Google, especially given its competitive performance in certain key markets.
Over the past 20 years, Google has become absolutely synonymous with web search functionality — the word is now firmly entrenched in the modern lexicon as a verb. Microsoft might never be able to knock Google from its perch, but the company has demonstrated time and time again that it is not going to give up on Bing.
In July, Microsoft rolled out a major update to the Android version of its Bing Search app, adding a whole host of new functionality and design refresh. Then there are projects like Face Swap, which uses a fun and frivolous photo effect in order to give users a taste of the Bing experience.
These statistics seem to suggest that Microsoft’s strategy is working. Is Bing the biggest name in search? Not by a long shot — but if it is preferred by a third of users in the U.S., it is not exactly an also-ran, either.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.