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The ongoing antitrust trial against Alphabet Inc.'s Google {{ m-tag option="price" ticker="GOOGL" currency="USD" }} has brought Microsoft's Bing {{ m-tag option="price" ticker="MSFT" currency="USD" }} into focus. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, testified, shedding light on Bing's efforts and challenges in the search market.

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The $100 Billion Gamble:
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Despite investing $100 billion into Bing, Nadella acknowledged its position as a "very, very low share player" in the search market. Microsoft continues to persist with Bing, viewing it as a software category they can contribute to, even though making significant breakthroughs has been challenging.

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AI: The New Frontier:
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Adding to the complexity is the role of artificial intelligence (AI). Since March, Google's AI software, Bard, has been incorporated into its search engine. Nadella stated that Google could extend its lead by using profits from its search business to secure exclusive rights to content that could enhance its search AI, thereby outperforming rivals.

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The U.S. Department of Justice accuses Google of unlawfully maintaining a monopoly by paying $10 billion annually to ensure its search engine remains the default option. Microsoft's struggle with Bing is being used as evidence that even with substantial resources, challenging Google is difficult.

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The Apple Factor:
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Nadella also revealed that Microsoft could not secure a deal to make Bing the default search engine on Apple's products, despite reportedly offering better terms than Google. Microsoft's phone is also required to use Google search due to licensing agreements with Android.

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Branding & Market Influence:
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The CEO of Microsoft testified about the significant influence Apple's selection of its default search engine holds. Despite making progress between 2013 and 2017, Apple ultimately reverted to Google for the default search engine in its Safari web browser.

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In an ironic twist, the constraints and distractions posed by the government's antitrust case against Microsoft in the late 1990s helped provide a springboard for Google to turn its search engine into a dominant force.

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The Financial Impact:
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During Nadella's tenure, Microsoft has seen considerable gains in personal and cloud computing, boosting the company's stock price by nearly nine-fold and creating more than $2 trillion in shareholder wealth. However, Bing remains a distant second in the search market.

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Conclusion

Despite all the success, Microsoft has yet to be able to make any significant inroads in search against Google. The company even tried to buy Yahoo for over $40 billion at one point, which was rejected.

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