7 Reasons Bing Will Never Eclipse Google

Earlier this week I gave 7 reasons that Bing could eclipse Google. Today, I give you 7 reasons Bing will never pass Google (from least important to most important).

1. Microsoft’s poor image. It’s not much of a point (considering that Microsoft is still very successful despite their unpopularity), but Microsoft (the owners of Bing) isn’t really liked by most people.

2. Google’s “Do no evil” persona. Google has a fantastic grant program for non-profits, has demonstrated a commitment to the environment, offers rewards for technological advances, and more. They’ve assembled a large body of work that shows them to be a good company, and consumers are loyal to companies that do good things.

3. Spam. Google has more experience fighting spammers than anybody. If Bing ever manages to achieve any significant volumes, you can expect them to whither an incredible attack from spammers who will switch their focus to Bing.

4. Lower quality results. Google’s search results are still better, and while it’s true that Bing has grown phenomenally in terms of quality in the last year and a half, Google is still better.

5. Stratification of the marketplace. Even if we assume that Google’s fall from preeminence is certain, there’s very little reason to believe that only Bing will benefit. Mahalo, Wolfram, Cuil, and 10 companies we’ve never heard of could all take some percentage of Google’s business. Not only will Bing have to compete with Google, they’ll also have to compete with all the smaller players as well.

6. Google’s clever search integration strategy. Google is constantly adding new features and products to their portfolio, and they’re always careful to integrate their search engine into these products. If we woke up tomorrow and Google was no longer number one, YouTube, Gmail, and Google News would still be enough to make Google relevant.

7. Google’s insurmountable lead. Google enjoys 70-90% of the search engine market, depending on how you measure it (I say 90% based on comparing impressions between ad campaigns I’ve ran on all the major search engines). Google has the best system despite all the spam and all the complexity. Google has name recognition. Google is still a well-liked company, despite their tremendous success. Google is number one – by a large margin.

The bottom line: Google is still King, and will be for at least the next 18-24 months (and likely much, much longer). As great as Bing is, I don’t foresee a situation where Google falls off the top of the mountain.