Bing Makes Headway and Takes a Little Share - MS's Surprising Quarterly Report

Brett Tabkeon

Microsoft’s Bing is growing - and not just in user numbers, but in revenue, relevance, and reach.   Bing's bet on AI is paying off.  Let’s break down what’s happening and what it means for your digital strategy.

Key Highlights from the Reports

1. 21% Revenue Growth, Driven by AI
Microsoft’s FY 2025 earnings revealed that Bing and its ad network saw a 21% jump in search and news advertising revenue. This is directly tied to its integration of generative AI across Bing, Windows, and Edge, which is increasing engagement and ad impressions.

2. Bing's User Base Is Growing, While Google Shrinks

  • Google dropped from 91.6% to 90.9%.
  • Bing increased from 3.1% to 3.4% globally.

That’s a small shift numerically, but with billions of searches per day, it represents tens of millions of fresh clicks and user actions moving away from Google.

3. Edge & Windows Integration Is Helping
Windows Central points out that much of Bing’s growth is being driven by its tight integration with the Edge browser and Windows 11’s Copilot assistant. These AI tools shepherd users into Bing environments.

What This Means for SEOs and Site Owners

1. Bing Deserves More Than 3% of Your Attention
Too many site owners optimize exclusively for Google. But Bing is now not only growing - it’s monetizing better and surfacing more AI-assisted content. With ChatGPT, Copilot, and Edge integrations pointing traffic back to Bing-powered sources, ignoring it is leaving traffic on the table.

2. Bing’s Indexing and Ranking Priorities Are Changing
AI is driving deeper engagement in Bing Chat and Copilot. These systems rely heavily on structured data, clean HTML, and content that performs well in AI summarization. If your content isn’t crawlable, concise, and marked up correctly, you’re less likely to appear in these new surfaces.

3. Ads on Bing Are Performing Better
With 21% revenue growth, it’s clear that advertisers are finding value in Bing’s search audience. Cost-per-click remains lower than on Google, and ROI is strong in niches like B2B, finance, healthcare, and tech.

4. The AI Surface Is the New SERP
Traditional blue links are becoming less visible as AI-driven results gain prominence. If you're not thinking about how your content appears in AI-generated summaries, you're going to fall behind. Bing's implementation of this trend is leading, not following.

Recommendations for Marketers & SEOs

Start tracking Bing rankings and referral data again
Revisit Bing Webmaster Tools. Set up alerts and monitor traffic sources for trends.

Bing Says to get your sitemaps back in order

Optimize for Edge & Copilot surfaces
Understand how your content might be used or surfaced in Copilot queries. Structured data is key.

Test Bing Ads if you haven’t already
Especially in industries with high CPCs on Google, Bing may offer more affordable reach.

Reassess content quality through an AI lens
Ask yourself: does my content answer the kind of direct, conversational queries people are putting into AI interfaces?

Watch market share shifts monthly
That 0.7% drop in Google’s share didn’t happen in a vacuum. Track it. It’s not just a blip.

Breakdown of the Citation

1. Comscore & StatCounter Data

  • Comscore data shows Bing market share up ~2%
  • StatCounter data shows Bing market share up ~3%
  • Meanwhile Google's share declined ~1% (Comscore) and ~6% (StatCounter)

2. Attribution

Jordi Ribas, Microsoft’s search lead, shared these figures on Twitter, explicitly attributing them to Comscore and StatCounter's tracking since early 2023 when Bing Chat (later Copilot) launched

Exit Words

Mock Bing all you want - it’s gaining users, pulling revenue, and changing how people find information. For years, SEOs treated Bing as a checkbox. That era is over. It’s now a viable, growing channel with unique surfaces, audiences, and monetization paths.