Bing opens to a good first week

Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing got off to a good opening week of its public launch, according to an early report from comScore

The results of the analysis showed a substantial improvement in Microsoft’s position in the search market in the days after Bing’s launch, something that Live could not live upto since its launch.

Microsoft increased its average daily penetration among U.S. searchers from 13.8 percent during the period May 26-30 to 15.5 percent during the period of June 2-6, an indication that the search engine is reaching more people than before.

Microsoft’s share of search results pages in the U.S., increased from 9.1 percent to 11.1 percent during the same time frame.

“These initial data suggest that Microsoft Bing has generated early interest, resulting in a spike in search engagement and an immediate term improvement to Microsoft’s position in the search market,” said Mike Hurt, comScore senior vice president.

“So far it appears that the lifts in searcher penetration and engagement have held relatively steady throughout the five-day period. The ultimate performance of Bing depends on the extent to which it generates more trial through its extensive launch campaign and whether it retains those trial users. It appears it is off to a good start.”

Google Analytics report for this blog shows a high number of users from Bing.com in the last week. The referral numbers from Bing are much higher than the combined referrals from Live in the past three to four months. What has been your experience with Bing, have you seen any referrals to your website from Bing.

After a good first week will Bing be able to sustain its position in the search market ?