Google beware.

 

In less than a week since its launch, Microsoft’s (News - Alert) new search engine Bing has surpassed Yahoo! as the No. 2 search engine in the U.S. and worldwide, according to a new report. And the new site is on track to steal market share away from Google.

 

StatCounter, an online visitor stats tool which offers free Web site traffic analysis, on Thursday found that Bing traffic outpaced Yahoo! taking second place with 16.28 percent of searches versus Yahoo’s 10.22 percent. Google (News - Alert), however, still retains the lead in the U.S. search engine market with 71.47 percent.

 

“It remains to be seen if Bing falls away after the initial novelty and promotion but at first sight it looks like Microsoft is on to a winner,” said Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter, in a statement. “Steve Ballmer (News - Alert) is quoted as saying that he wanted Microsoft to become the second biggest search engine within five years. Following the breakdown in talks to acquire Yahoo! at a cost of $40 billion it looks as if he may have just achieved that with Bing much sooner, and a lot cheaper than anticipated.”

 

Globally, StatCounter found that Bing at a slight lead over Yahoo! with 5.62 percent and 5.13 percent of searches, respectively. Meanwhile, Google worldwide held 87.62 percent of the market, the report said.

 

What’s driving Bing’s traffic? For one, it’s something new. Secondly, Microsoft could be luring visitors as a result of its multi-million dollar ad campaign, which began this week. As TMC (News - Alert) reported, Microsoft is focusing its $80 million to $100 million campaign on the notion that current search engines don’t work as well as consumers previously thought.

 

Bing went live two days on June 1, two days before its scheduled release, TMC said. And so far, the site seems to be receiving some pretty positive responses.

 

“‘Bing’ is kind of catchy,” Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land and world-renowned search engine expert, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “There's no doubt in the short term it's going to be people going, ‘What's this Bing thing?’ And they're going to be thinking of this other search engine, and I think they will see that it's backed by Microsoft, and that may make them think, like: "Oh, Microsoft has a search engine. Maybe I should check it out.”

 

Microsoft touts Bing as a decision engine rather than a search engine, the AP says. In announcing the site last week, Microsoft said it wants to help users receive the information they're searching for faster. For example, pop-up windows reportedly will open summarizing details on a Web site to save users from clicking. The site also organizes search results with navigation and search tools and offers different categories of results.

 

Bing, formerly known as Kumo, features a variety of services, including Bing Travel, Bing Cashback and Bing Maps for Enterprise, Computer World reports. The name is designed to conjure “the sound of found” as Bing helps people with complex tasks, Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft’s online audience business group, told the New York Times.