MSFT

Bing Wins Eye-Tracking Study vs. Google

06/27/2009 by Research Reloaded

For those interested in the search engine wars, particularly Bing vs. Google, then you might be interested in a recent usability study done by Catalyst in New York. While they used a statistically insignificant sample size of only 12 people (all who had been Google users beforehand), they did come out with some interesting anecdotal data.

First of all, 4 out of 12 actually said they preferred Bing, with the remaining 8 preferring Google, but apparently because Google was the search engine they were familiar with. Second of all, Bing was actually preferred on most metrics, with Google winning out simply because of familiarity. In terms of search relevance the two engines appear to have tied. Catalyst also studied which parts of the page caught users' attention and found that Bing appeared to get much more eye-time right where one would presumably want it, over the top search results.

MedStar - 60% of a Clinician's Time Spent Searching/Waiting for Information

06/24/2009 by Research Reloaded

I pulled this out of a transcript from one of Microsoft's Health IT executives, from when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. 

Our current system is built around the idea of a specific provider prescribing specific treatment for a specific condition. Patients’ health data is locked inside each provider’s silo, without being connected or shared. Physicians are forced to either make treatment and prescription decisions without all available clinical data, or else waste time and resources attempting to aggregate data. MedStar Health’s Washington Hospital Center estimates that 60% of a clinician’s time is spent searching or waiting for information, with only 16% spent on direct patient care.

 

Bing Keeps Ringing in the Market Share Through Second Week, Now 12 Percent

06/18/2009
Research Reloaded: 

Microsoft's Bing market share continues to grow in its second week... the big question is, will the new users stick around once the ad campaign and novelty wear off?

 

Microsoft’s new search engine Bing had a strong showing in its second week, according to the latest comScore stats. You can see our analysis of Bing’s success in its first week here. Microsoft sites’ average daily penetration among U.S. searchers reached 16.7 percent during the work week of June 8-12, up 3 percentage points from the May 25-29 period (which was prior to Bing’s introduction) and up over 1 percentage point from its first week.

Microsoft’s share of search result pages in the U.S. increased to 12.1 percent during the period of June 8-12, which is also 3 percentage points above the pre-introduction work week of May 25-29, and up 1 percentage point from the week of June 2-6, 2009.

From: 
TechCrunch

Twitter Search Market Share - Potential Dark Horse

06/17/2009 by Research Reloaded

One more interesting note, in addition to our previous thoughts, from Citi's June 17th search market share flash... interestingly Twitter has begun to show up on the radar in terms of search market share!

Search volume on Twitter in May was 30.1MM, (.001% U.S. market share), with 4.2MM searchers, and 39.4MM Result Pages, exceeding the 22.2MM searches conducted on Time Warner Cable.

Sure their share is tiny, but it's brand new, growing, and has a passionate user base as opposed to "use any default search box" types. They've already beaten Time Warner Cable, perhaps one day they break past Ask.com's sub-4% share? Very early days, but something to think about.

Bing Could Ding Yahoo, Not Just Google

06/17/2009 by Research Reloaded

comScore just released their May search query market share data, which we note encompasses a period before Microsoft launched their new Bing "decision engine". Well if anything, the latest data will set up us nicely to see whether Bing makes a Bang. May search share was at a record high for Google (GOOG) and a record low for Microsoft (MSFT), so there is a lot of rook for improved YoY comparisons.

Some preliminary comScore data appears to indicate that Bing may have gained MSFT 200 bps in market share already, but let's see how the engine fares a few months out, once the novelty factor wears off. I personally went, checked it out, did a few searches, then found myself habitually back to using Google. I don't think I even type www.google.com anymore, I just type keywords into my Google Chrome browser, so unless Bing gives users some sort of advantage, I expect it to Bomb.

Citi sees Yahoo share stabilizing due to improvements

But we'll see. Another interesting part of the latest comScore data is in regards to Yahoo (YHOO). As Citi analyst Mark Mahaney explained in his latest June 17 flash, May comScore data shows that Yahoo query share appears to have stabilized, now in the 20-21% range for nine months straight. He attributed this to various enhancements Yahoo has been implementing. So maybe they have been able to steady the ship in terms of search.

MSFT Netbook Battle Shows Pricing Power Challenges Going Forward

06/17/2009
Research Reloaded: 

In terms of market share Microsoft may have won (won-back?) the market for netbooks, but at what cost? It appears they were required to reduce the price of Windows substantially in the cost-conscious netbook space. MSFT clearly has a lot of room in its margins, but falling pricing power might be a tough headwind for even robust future volume growth. I personally am currently downloading ubuntu for my netbook, after getting the idea from my old colleague PJ King, while keeping Vista on my other lap top, to see how it performs. GigaOm below...

 

I’m starting to believe that the fight for the netbook operating system simply won’t go the full 10 rounds. In case you haven’t yet managed to score a ringside seat, let me offer you a blow-by-blow recap.

From: 
GigaOM
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