Chitika Study: Bing Losing Users Faster than Impressions
MARLBOROUGH, 10/28/2009 (Updated 10/30/2009) – Less and less individuals are trying out Bing, according to a study released today by online ad network Chitika. In looking at network traffic from August through the first half of October, it appears that although Bing’s share of search impressions has declined at a steady rate, the number of users coming through Microsoft’s decision engine has declined much more quickly.
In August, over 8% of search engine users and 6.7% of search impressions came from Bing. Since then, however, Microsoft’s impressions share has dropped to 5.44%, and the user share has decreased even more significantly, to 6.28%
Looking at the sharp user decline, it appears as though Bing’s advertising campaign had a very positive effect over the summer, convincing users to come over and try out the new Google-killer in town. But Bing seems to have failed to retain the bump in users who came over, who have migrated back to – or never truly left – Google.
The Raw Numbers
| August | Impressions | % of Search Impressions | Unique Users | % of Search Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 174,523,974 | 81.80% | 77,758,537 | 79.86% | |
| Yahoo! | 19,380,598 | 9.08% | 9,116,082 | 9.36% |
| Bing | 14,428,451 | 6.76% | 8,021,890 | 8.24% |
| Total | 213,361,111 | 100% | 97,367,430 | 100% |
| September | Impressions | % of Search Impressions | Unique Users | % of Search Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 194,899,496 | 84.19% | 90,567,666 | 82.87% | |
| Yahoo! | 17,904,060 | 7.73% | 8,773,046 | 8.03% |
| Bing | 13,344,197 | 5.76% | 7,171,080 | 6.56% |
| Total | 231,504,875 | 100% | 109,284,896 | 100% |
| October (through 10/15) | Impressions | % of Search Impressions | Unique Users | % of Search Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 114,478,618 | 84.99% | 56,062,586 | 83.82% | |
| Yahoo! | 9,780,110 | 7.26% | 4,963,954 | 7.42% |
| Bing | 7,323,139 | 5.44% | 4,197,332 | 6.28% |
| Total | 134,689,148 | 100% | 66,885,526 | 100% |
Note: All numbers are based on a sample of monthly traffic through the Chitika network.
About Chitika
Chitika, Inc., is a search-based online advertising network, leading the way in intent-based advertising and search engine insights. Chitika provides publishers with an innovative way to monetize search engine traffic, and advertisers a new way of generating leads with clear consumer intent. With over 60,000 sites and 2 billion monthly impressions, the Chitika network is the pulse of the online world. For more information, visit http://chitika.com
Contact:
Daniel Ruby
Research Director, Online Insights
Chitika, Inc.
+1.866.441.7203 x966
press@chitika.com