Compete Says Bing’s Total U.S. Market Share Grew To 29% In November(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Compete Says Bing’s Total U.S. Market Share Grew To 29% In November
http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/03/compete-says-bings-total-u-s-market-share-grew-to-29-in-november/
6 comments
This speaks more poorly of Compete than it speaks well of Bing.
I don't understand. Is there something wrong with their methodology?
There are several issues with their methodologies. Basically, they measure data from toolbar installs, as well as some data sharing/sampling agreements with ISPs and other websites.
Most criticisms center around the fact that it is well documented that data from compete frequently doesn't match (or come close to matching) data in server logs. Because of the methodology of collection, the data has a tendency to be skewed. Plus, it's difficult to figure out exactly why server logs show such different data than compete, so it gives a not-too-trustworthy feel to many webmasters.
In addition, there's a potential conflict of interest -- if you sign up for their paid service, your site will get an analytics tracking cookie. From what I've read, people rarely see their rank drop after signing up for the analytics service. Gives the whole thing the feel of payola.
That said, similar problems exist with all the analytics type services. None are perfect, best bet is to poll a few of them and not take the numbers too seriously (look for trends, not milestones).
Most criticisms center around the fact that it is well documented that data from compete frequently doesn't match (or come close to matching) data in server logs. Because of the methodology of collection, the data has a tendency to be skewed. Plus, it's difficult to figure out exactly why server logs show such different data than compete, so it gives a not-too-trustworthy feel to many webmasters.
In addition, there's a potential conflict of interest -- if you sign up for their paid service, your site will get an analytics tracking cookie. From what I've read, people rarely see their rank drop after signing up for the analytics service. Gives the whole thing the feel of payola.
That said, similar problems exist with all the analytics type services. None are perfect, best bet is to poll a few of them and not take the numbers too seriously (look for trends, not milestones).
How much of this growth derives from uptake of IE 8 or 9, whichever comes standard with Windows 7? I bet there's a direct correlation.
Not sure what you mean. Previous versions of IE used MSN or Windows Live Search as their homepages, which now redirect all searches to Bing.
Techcrunch should show how much of their own traffic comes from google vs bing now. I would guess they are ~90% of search referals.
I take no stock in Compete stats. It grossly miscalculates traffic statistics.
Here's an example: http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/experts-misunderestimate-our-...
Here's an example: http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/experts-misunderestimate-our-...
The table titled "The US web search market share and volume" doesn't look convincing. The share for 2010 only shows October and November. How did Bing/Yahoo perform before?