As per statistics from analytics company Similarweb, the OpenAI technology integration with Microsoft-owned Bing has increased traffic to the underutilised search engine and helped it better compete with market leader Google in terms of page visit growth.

 

When compared to the Alphabet Inc.-owned search engine, page visits on Bing have increased by 15.8% since Microsoft Corp. introduced its artificial intelligence-powered version on February 7.

 

Because to the technology underpinning ChatGPT, the well-known chatbot that many experts have dubbed AI's "iPhone moment," the data are an early indication of the lead the Windows manufacturer has seized in its quick-moving competition with Google for generative AI domination.

 

They also highlight a unique chance for Microsoft to gain ground in the over $100 billion global search business, where Google has held a monopoly with a share of more than 80% for decades.

 

In the upcoming months, according to Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co., Bing will likely gain market share in search, particularly if Google continues to put off integrating generative AI into its software.

 

The majority of users have had access to Bing AI since February, while Google's chatbot Bard has just lately started to be made available to the general public.

 

"Bing has less than a tenth of Google's market share, so even if it converts 1% or 2% of users it will be materially beneficial to Bing and Microsoft," Luria said.

 

Based on app analytics firm Data.ai, Bing app downloads increased eight times globally after AI integration. According to the data, downloads of the Google search app decreased by 2% during that time.

 

Yet, several observers believed that Google, which in the early 2000s dethroned Yahoo to become the leading search player, might overcome the early hurdles to keep its lead.

 

"Google's ranking algorithm can have a edge over that of competitors", Yongjei Jeong, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in South Korea said, referring to how Google's algorithm helped it beat Yahoo Search.