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Bing page visits rose 15.8% in Similarweb’s early post-launch comparison after Microsoft introduced its OpenAI-powered new Bing in February 2023. That was a meaningful burst of attention, but it was not a 15.8-percentage-point gain in search-market share, proof that Google users permanently switched, or evidence of equivalent advertising growth.
The result belongs to a short launch window ending around March 20, 2023. It shows that conversational AI made Bing more interesting to users; it does not, by itself, show that Bing displaced Google.
What Microsoft actually launched
On February 7, 2023, Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Bing experience that combined conventional web search with conversational answers and follow-up questions. It used OpenAI technology and was closely associated with Microsoft’s Bing Chat preview, rather than being the ordinary ChatGPT website placed unchanged inside Bing.
Access initially involved a preview and waitlist. That limited availability, combined with extensive publicity, created a strong incentive to try the product. Microsoft also distributed Bing through Edge, Windows and mobile apps, giving the launch more exposure than a standalone chatbot would have had. Background on the product positioning is available from the Associated Press.
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What the 15.8% number measured
| Reported figure | What it means | What it does not mean |
|---|---|---|
| Bing page visits rose 15.8% | A Similarweb estimate comparing the early period after the February 7 launch with the preceding period, ending around March 20, 2023 | Not a 15.8-point increase in search share, users, queries, revenue or retention |
| Google page visits fell by nearly 1% | A near-term traffic decline during the same comparison period | Not proof that those visits moved directly to Bing |
| Bing app downloads rose about eightfold globally | A Data.ai download comparison reported by Reuters after the AI launch | Not evidence of active use, completed searches or long-term retention |
Reuters reported the Similarweb comparison and app-download data in its account of the launch: Reuters via Investing.com. Similarweb traffic estimates are directional measurements of visits, not a census of every searcher or query. A visit can also include AI-chat activity rather than an ordinary search.
Why Bing attracted users
Novelty and differentiation
Users had a new reason to test Bing: it could produce a conversational answer, maintain a thread of follow-up questions and summarize information instead of returning only a list of links. The novelty itself likely generated trial, especially while access was scarce.
Microsoft’s distribution advantage
Bing was connected to Edge, Windows and Microsoft’s mobile applications. That distribution reduced the friction of trying the service and made the launch visible to people who were not actively shopping for a new search engine.
App promotion and media attention
The launch received unusually broad technology and mainstream coverage. Reuters’ report of an approximately eightfold global increase in Bing app downloads captures that acquisition spike, but a download is an installation event, not a recurring-user measure.
Evidence of new users
Microsoft said Bing passed 100 million daily active users after the preview began and that roughly one-third of preview users were new to Bing. Those are Microsoft-reported figures, not independent audits. They indicate substantial trial and reach, but they do not identify how many people used Bing’s conversational feature, replaced Google or remained active months later. Search Engine Land reported those claims and placed them alongside the Similarweb result.
Why the result did not prove a Google exodus
Growth from a smaller base
A smaller service can post a much larger percentage increase without closing the incumbent’s absolute lead. “Bing grew faster” and “Bing overtook Google” are entirely different statements.
Trial is not substitution
The same person could experiment with Bing while continuing to use Google. The available figures show Bing visits rising and Google visits declining slightly in the same window, but they do not link each lost Google visit to a gained Bing visit.
Edge did not automatically convert search behavior
Search Engine Land reported that some people who used or downloaded Edge still searched with Google. Browser adoption and search-engine adoption are separate metrics; exposure to Bing does not guarantee a default-search change. See the Edge analysis.
AI curiosity was broader than Bing
ChatGPT traffic was also growing rapidly during this period. That makes a wider generative-AI curiosity effect plausible: people may have tested several products rather than moving from Google to Bing. Search Engine Land discussed that context in its coverage of the early traffic data.
What the launch-period data cannot establish
- How many visitors became repeat users after the preview excitement faded.
- Whether activity consisted mainly of conventional searches, conversational sessions or both.
- Whether Bing’s answers were better for ordinary, commercial, local or sensitive queries.
- Whether increased traffic produced more advertising revenue or improved profitability.
- Whether the AI serving costs associated with the feature exceeded the value of additional searches.
- How results differed by country, device, browser default or user segment.
Early Bing Chat also carried familiar generative-AI risks: inaccurate or fabricated answers, confident unsupported claims, difficulty with long conversations and vulnerability to adversarial prompts. Fluent output can make mistakes less obvious, so attention is not the same as answer quality or trustworthiness.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was this a genuine challenge to Google?
Yes, as an early competitive signal; no, as proof of completed disruption. Microsoft demonstrated that an AI-centered search experience could attract substantial attention quickly. The 15.8% figure showed a traffic response during the first several weeks, while the reported user and download figures suggested broad curiosity.
But the observation window was short, access was constrained by a preview and waitlist, and third-party traffic estimates cannot show retention, query mix or one-to-one switching. Google remained the dominant search provider. The evidence supports “credible early challenge,” not “permanent market-share victory.”
What it could mean commercially for Microsoft
More Bing activity could create additional search-advertising inventory, strengthen Microsoft’s leverage over browser and default-search distribution, and provide feedback for improving AI features. The launch also supported a broader strategy of embedding OpenAI-powered capabilities across Microsoft products, including productivity software.
Those are opportunities, not measured outcomes. The reported 15.8% does not quantify incremental advertising revenue, profit, commercially valuable queries or the cost of generating AI answers. Traffic growth, product adoption and financial return must be measured separately.
How to read the headline in 2026
This is a March 2023 data point, not a current measurement of Bing’s traffic or market share. The most accurate interpretation is:
After Microsoft launched its OpenAI-powered new Bing on February 7, 2023, Similarweb estimated that Bing page visits rose 15.8% through approximately March 20, while Google visits declined by nearly 1% in the same comparison. The result showed increased interest and possible experimentation, but did not prove durable switching or a lasting change in search dominance.
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Keeping visits, unique users, daily active users, app downloads, queries, market share, revenue and retention separate prevents the statistic from saying more than the evidence supports.
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