Will Bing Change Search Habits?

Microsoft’s Bing has received a lot of buzz this week after coming out of the starting gate. But will that buzz hold on long term?

WebProNews reported this morning that Bing has moved up to No. 2 in search market share, surpassing Yahoo! who has had that spot for several years now. After playing around a little bit with Bing myself this week I’ve noticed several really useful features that give it a real edge over Yahoo! and in some cases over Google. But it remains to be seen whether the search engine will sustain that over the long term. I believe the initial spike in usage is due to mass curiosity in the marketplace. But will users continue to use Bing long term? I think it’s doubtful.

There are several reasons why I don’t think Bing will catch on long term. For starters, there is a huge Google fan base. Googlers will not abandon Google just because Bing is pretty and helpful. While Bing has managed to make a good point that Google’s keyword-based search is failing in some areas, which it is, where Google is strong it is really strong. None of Bing’s strengths have proven themselves over time whereas Google’s has.

Unless Yahoo! can fix its failings, it is likely that Bing will maneuver itself into the No. 2 spot permanently, but I don’t see it overtake Google any time soon. What about you?