10 November 2009 | Author: J. Cave SEO Consultant

UK Bing launch postponed until 2010

Microsoft has decided to hold off the launch of Bing UK, delaying things until the start of next year. Although the industry giant has received promising feedback from the launch of Bing in the United States, the UK market is proving harder to crack.

According to MarketingMagazine.co.uk, Microsoft is also not planning any marketing of the new search engine until the first quarter of 2010 and possible even later, say sources.

Bing has been in beta launch since June although no UK marketing activity has occurred yet. Initial feedback, according to VCCP Search Managing Director Paul Mead, shows users not feeling that Bing lives up to expectations and immediately heading back to Google.

Unlike Google which focused on creating a high-quality user experience and letting the service spread by word of mouth, Microsoft has focused on partnerships with online media owners negotiating deals that would effectively drive traffic to the Bing search engine.

However, as feedback hasn't been as positive as Microsoft would have liked the company has decided to hold off on UK promotion, unlike in the United States where Microsoft have budgeted $100m to advertise Bing.

One of the major reasons Microsoft believes feedback hasn't lived up to expectations is the fact that Bing hasn't been localised to UK users. Microsoft has recently been searching for staff to create a more UK-focused Bing and has decided not to advertise the search engine within the UK until this has been achieved.

Speaking about this decision, Mead said: "People will try it once, but they will run out of chances with users."

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