Google still Search King, Bing lags despite Microsoft's Copilot efforts

Cloudflare's Search Engine Referral Report for Q1 2024, published on May 3rd, reveals that Google maintains a staggering lead with a commanding 89.12% share of the global search market. This is down slightly from previous quarters, but still a clear indicator of Google's continued supremacy.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Bing search engine finds itself trailing far behind at a mere 2.51% market share. This comes despite Microsoft's recent investments in AI-powered coding assistant Copilot.

Following Google and Bing, a mix of regional players and privacy-focused options carve out smaller shares of the market. Russian search engine Yandex holds 3.29%, while China's Baidu captures 2.17%. Notably, privacy-focused DuckDuckGo takes up 0.87% share.

The report doesn't delve into specifics on device breakdown, but the dominance of mobile browsing in today's digital landscape suggests Bing and other challengers have significant ground to gain in the crucial mobile search market.

While the report focuses on Q1 2024 data, it serves as a reminder that Google remains the clear leader for search traffic. Marketers looking to optimize their online presence for search engine visibility should prioritize Google in their strategies. However, keeping an eye on emerging trends and niche players like DuckDuckGo can be valuable depending on target demographics.