With less than a 10 per cent share of the online search market, Microsoft's Bing search engine would have a long way to go to catch up with its biggest competitor, Google, which has at least 70 per cent of the search market share. Microsoft is taking a new approach by partnering with Yahoo!, a company the technology giant tried to purchase for $45 billion (US) in 2008.

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According to Hitwise, Google had 74 per cent of the online search market share in June, with Yahoo and Bing trailing far behind at 16 per cent and five per cent, respectively.

"Microsoft's release of Bing is being positively received by consumers, but is not sufficient to span the vast chasm Google maintains in the search market," said Allan B. Krans, senior analyst at Technology Business Research, in a statement. "With Microsoft starting from less than a 10 per cent share of search, and Google maintaining around 70 per cent, it would take years for Microsoft to build any serious presence in the market. While Google's share of the market and hold on consumers is formidable, Microsoft's advertising deal with Yahoo! may be the best shot at succeeding in the market. This deal will instantly triple Microsoft's share of the search market, providing the scale to attract a greater advertising base, creating the possibility to monetize its search and advertising assets for the first time."

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