Bing? Who Uses It Anyway? 10 Ways You Probably Do

Have you ever heard someone say they were going to “Bing it” when trying to find the answer to cheat in a pub quiz or information on the latest Apple release or even train timetables? Probably not. You will, however, have heard “Google it” used in the same context. Bing.com doesn’t compete with Google in numbers terms – for example it’s the 25th most visited site online whereas Google is number one – however that doesn’t mean that you’re not still using it every day. Here’s how:

1. If you’re on a Windows device you’re probably using Bing

More than 1.5 billion devices worldwide are powered by Microsoft Windows. Bing is the Microsoft owned search engine so each of these devices will be directing traffic there.

2. Many users opt for two search engines

This is a “bi-searchual” approach that employs both Google and Bing to perform certain tasks. It can have a big impact on advertising, for example those businesses advertising on Bing tend to see 26% more branded searches on Google too.

3. If you have Cortana or Alexa you’re using Bing

That’s because voice searches through these devices are powered by Bing. Amazon’s Alexa alone has made Bing the first port of call in 100+ million homes.

4. eCommerce Links

Microsoft has partnerships with many of the biggest ecommerce platforms, including Amazon and GumTree. This means that Bing gets to more than a third of all online retail searches. If you’re an advertiser Bing’s results should be appealing – for example, the average shopping campaign on Bing has 45% higher ad click through rate than on Google.

5. Bing controls a third of the desktop market

And it is integrated with a whole range of other Microsoft products, including Edge / Internet Explorer, Xbox and Skype.

6. The Bing audience is slightly different to Google

For example, the average user is 45 years old, has a college degree and spends 35% more than when shopping on Google.

7. Smaller search engines are also powered by Bing

In fact if you’re not using Google but opting for another search engine, such as Yahoo!, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo or Lycos Bing is likely to be powering their results and ads.

8. International searches

Windows 10 brought more international searchers onto Bing than ever before. 23% of desktop searches in the UK are now on Bing and internationally the platform hosts 11 billion searches every single month.

9. Bing is often a first choice in a professional context

For example, 44% of all business and finance related paid search clicks happen via the search engine.

10. It has become a first choice for advertisers

According to a recent Microsoft announcement, thanks to the use of Microsoft Adverting half a million advertisers now serve ads on Bing. The fact that this is still far lower than Google means there are benefits for Bing advertisers, including lower cost per click and higher click through rates.

Bing may not be the first search engine that comes to mind but it has a lot more reach and influence than many realise – you may already be using it, even without knowing.