Google vs Microsoft - The Battle Of The Search Engines

When the internet was still developing and we were using dial-up connections, the choice of web browsers was limited. Internet Explorer was popular. The times are different now. The internet is wireless and available on mobile devices. This has brought about a change in the number of web browsers and search engines.

According to reports, as of January 2023, Google enjoyed the majority of the global market share with 92.9%, followed by Bing at 3.03%, Yahoo! at 1.22%, Yandex (0.85%), Baidu (0.65%), DuckDuckGo (0.58%) and a smidgen of others.

While the ratio of the market share of search engines looked promising for Google in the foreseeable future, recent developments have brought up the question again. Especially with the introduction of a chatbot with technology based-off the trending and popular ChatGPT into Microsoft’s Bing search capabilities.

So, is Bing going to be the next popular search engine? According to Morning Consult tech analyst Jordan Marlatt it’s too soon to tell. “How much catch-up does Bing have to play in this space? The answer is quite a bit,” said Marlatt.

A key challenge for Bing is that Google has higher favorability ratings, according to Marlatt. Reportedly, 57% of adults in the U.S. use Google’s search engine daily, as compared to 10% for Bing. Additionally, 90% of people using Google’s search engine consider it good against 75% of Bing users.

According to Marlatt, the younger generation grew up on Google products, including the use of Chromebooks in school, whereas baby boomers and older adults were raised on Microsoft Word and PCs.

This may have something to do with the choice of browser, that is to say, more people using Google’s Chrome are going to use its search engine and those using Microsoft’s Edge are going to use Bing. This also happens because of the default search engine set on the browser.

According to reports, in 2023, Google’s Chrome enjoys most of the web browser market with a 64.68% share. This is followed by Apple’s Safari at 18.29%, Microsoft’s Edge at 4.23%, Mozilla’s Firefox at 3.01%, and Opera at 2.25%. Recently Microsoft shut down Internet Explorer and its support, having already done that for Edge Legacy, which was based on Google’s Chromium, an open-source web browser.


However, that is the scenario up to now. With the introduction of ChatGPT, browsers and search engines have a new race on their hands. Who can introduce an artificial intelligence chatbot into its search engine?

ChatGPT, which is owned by OpenAI and backed by Microsoft, garnered a great amount of attention, racking up a million users in just 5 days!

Microsoft introduced a chatbot based on the same technology into Bing, available to only a few people. Although, it ran into a few snags resulting in inaccurate, emotional, threatening and even deeply concerning responses (read here).

In response to these episodes, Microsoft said it released the chatbot so that it could have people test it to fix its flaws.

According to Big Technology newsletter writer Alex Kantrowitz, the incidents were good for business, writing, "Even in its weirdest moments, Bing’s chatbot has brought new relevance to Microsoft and its search division. Its previously-flatlining Bing app almost surpassed Google in downloads last Saturday, and search interest in Bing is spiking,"


In all this, Google wasn’t far behind in announcing its own AI-powered search engine, Bard. Unfortunately, its promotional video didn’t go well, with the chatbot providing an incorrect answer to a question asked (read here). This led to a $100 billion devaluation in market share for Google.

Of course, considering Google’s history and tech prowess, it would be safe to conclude that its chatbot’s shortcomings will be corrected.

Marlatt believes if the Bing chatbot performs better and more accurately, it could win over Gen Z, a generation that loves futuristic products.

What do you think of the two chatbots and do you think Bing can become the preferred search engine soon? Let us know in the comments below!