Bing turns 15; here are some significant moments, ups and downs

Today marks the 15th anniversary of Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Launched in 2009, Bing has become a major player in the search engine landscape, offering unique features and deep integration with other Microsoft products, but still far behind Google’s dominance in the search engine market.

Here are some significant moments in the journey:

• 2009: Bing entered the market with a user-friendly interface and features like daily changing background images.
• 2010s: Strategic partnerships with Yahoo! 
• Search and integration within Microsoft products like Cortana (introduced in 2014) and Windows 10 (released in 2015) expanded Bing’s reach and functionality.
• 2012: Bing introduced social search integration, incorporating data from social media platforms for a more comprehensive search experience.
• 2016: Bing introduced intelligent search features using artificial intelligence to provide more direct answers and insights.
• 2017: Bing launched Visual Search, allowing users to search using images rather than text.
• 2019: Bing Ads was rebranded as Microsoft Advertising.
• 2020: Bing launched a COVID-19 tracker to provide real-time information and updates on the pandemic.
• 2021: The new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser was fully integrated with Bing.
• 2023: Bing incorporated more advanced AI technologies, including those from OpenAI, to improve search capabilities, natural language processing, and user personalization.

Some market dynamics:

• Despite these developments, Bing faces significant competition from Google, which currently holds the dominant market share in search engines.
• Marketing initiatives like the “Bing It On” campaign had varying degrees of success in capturing market share.
• Bing’s market share growth has been slow, even after being integrated as the default search engine in Windows 10.
• Bing continues to face challenges in differentiating itself from Google’s established search offerings.

As the search landscape continues to evolve with AI integration, Bing is well-positioned to play a significant role in shaping the future of information access.

Here’s what Jordi Ribas, CVP at Microsoft – Search & AI, says about the occasion.