Bing nabs more Web searches in February

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine gained market share in the U.S. in February, according to research groups.

Microsoft has worked for years to improve its search technology and narrow the gap with Google Inc. After launching its redesigned search site last June, the company waged a major marketing campaign to position Bing as better than Google or No. 2 Yahoo for shopping, booking travel and searching for medical information.

Microsoft remains in the No. 3 spot, but Bing's share of U.S. searches has crept up a few percentage points since its June 2009 launch, primarily at Yahoo's expense, according to research groups.

Now there's a sign — albeit a small one — that Bing may also be tempting some Googlers.

The Nielsen Co., one of the research groups that tracks the space, said Tuesday that Bing's share of U.S. searches crept up to 12.5 percent from 10.9 percent in January. Yahoo's share slipped to 14.1 percent from 14.5 percent, and Google's decreased to 65.2 from 66.3, Nielsen said.

But tracking Web searches is an imprecise business, and methods and estimates vary among research groups. Last week, comScore Inc. published its own February search rankings, which showed Google gaining a tenth of a percent to 65.5 percent. Microsoft's share edged up to 11.5 percent from 11.3 percent by comScore's count, while Yahoo's slice of U.S. Web searches slipped to 16.8 percent from 17 percent.