The Microsoft / Yahoo! Search Alliance is in full swing, with the consolidation of the organic search results completed and paid search expected to be combined by October. So with that news, as reported by Nick Eaton at the Seattle PI, we can begin to combine Microsoft/Yahoo! US search market share numbers, and the latest results from Experian/Hitwise show the combo at nearly 25%. comScore has the combination at nearly 30%.
However Experian/Hitwise provides a glimpse behind the scenes at the numbers as well. Although the totals are small, Microsoft and Bing are gaining in the key verticals of Health, Travel, Shopping, and Automotive:
(via the Microsoft Blog, SeattlePI.com)
In other words, in the key areas most likely to make money, Bing is experiencing impressive growth, gaining 65% in Automotive, 24% in Health, 66% in Shopping, and 47% growth in the Travel vertical over last year, according to Experian/Hitwise.
The nature of the Microsoft/Yahoo! partnership won’t mean doubling up on these numbers, probably, as they are directly related to the work Bing has done on the look and feel of the Bing verticals, positioning Bing as a “decision engine”. Yahoo! still has full control over the presentation of the search experience and search results. However it’s still positive news for Bing, and we’ll be watching how these numbers change in the months to come.