Microsoft’s new Bing search engine gained US market share in its first month in operation but still trails dominant rival Google.

Bing, launched on 3 June and took 8.23% of US for the month, up from 7.81% for Microsoft search just prior to its rollout and 7.21% in April, claims internet data firm StatCounter.

Google lost share slightly, dipping to 78.48% from 78.72% before Bing. Yahoo, the perennial number two in the market, rose to 11.04% from 10.99%.

Bing’s share peaked in the first week of June at 9.21%, falling away in the middle two weeks before coming back at 8.45% in the last week of June.

The results may give heart to Microsoft, which is investing heavily in its loss-making online services business and refusing to cede the market to Google.

“At first sight, a 1% increase in market share does not appear to be a huge return on the investment Microsoft has made in Bing, but the underlying trend appears positive,” says StatCounter chief executive Adohan Cullen.

The world’s largest software company may yet strike an online search partnership with Yahoo to make itself a credible competitor, but talk of such a deal has quietened down.

Reuters