Microsoft’s new Internet search engine Bing boosted the software giant’s share of the US market in the week following its release, industry tracking firm comScore reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Microsoft’s share of search results pages in the United States rose two percent to 11.1 percent the week after being rolled out, according to comScore.<\/p>\n
“It appears to be off to a good start,” said comScore vice president Mike Hurt.<\/p>\n
“The ultimate performance of Bing depends on the extent to which it generates more trial through its extensive launch campaign and whether it retains those trial users.”<\/p>\n
Microsoft gave Bing a public debut on May 28 and said it would be deployed worldwide by June 1.<\/p>\n
The US software colossus described Bing as a “Decision Engine” aimed at helping people make buying decisions, plan trips, research health matters or find local businesses.<\/p>\n
Bing’s launch came in the wake of Google and Yahoo! announcing refinements to their search services and the launch of a Wolfram Alpha query engine that delivers answers instead of lists of websites.<\/p>\n
Bing replaces MSN Live Search, which has languished in a distant third place behind market-leading Google and second-place Yahoo!<\/p>\n