Bing will become the default search engine for AOL as part of the larger Microsoft ad-sales deal, ending AOL’s longtime partnership with Google.
AOL’s move is the latest to displace Google’s search engine, following Mozilla’s Firefox, which has switched to Yahoo search.
But don’t feel too bad for Google, which still has 64.4 percent of U.S. search market share. StatCounter shows that Google’s Chrome browser occupies 44 percent global market share and Apple’s Safari has nearly 14 percent, both of which use Google as the default search engine.
Bing may have only 20 percent of search market share, but studies show that Bing is growing while Google and third-place Yahoo are declining slightly. In an interview with Marketing Land, VP of Microsoft’s ad business Rik Van der Kooi said the company is “deeply committed on the search side” and that “it’s a multibillion-dollar business, and it does pay for itself right now.”
Recently acquired by Verizon for $4.4 billion, AOL has earned $11.6 million in search revenues in Q1 of this year and finished 2014 with 2.2 million subscribers. Though Google remains a behemoth, earning $11.93 billion in search revenues in the same quarter, AOL President Bob Lord is confident about the future for his company.
“I can go to market now with a pretty comprehensive scale play. We now consider ourselves to be a must-buy,” said Lord.
Photo: AOL Logo
