Comparing Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Stock: A Bing Zing?

There is no doubt that Microsoft is pulling out the stops with the launch of its renovated search service, now called Bing, spending $100 million in marketing dollars.

But besides lifting the software giant’s share of the search market in early surveys, has it also given Microsoft’s (MSFT) stock an added boost?

Yes, indeed, but only over the last 30 days.

Here are some pertinent stock price data, using the No. 1 Google (GOOG) and the No. 2 Yahoo (YHOO), Microsoft’s search rivals, as comparison:

Since the beginning of the year, the shares of all three were up strongly–Google is up almost 32 percent, Yahoo is up 20.3 percent and Microsoft is up 20 percent.

But if you narrow that to just a month, which is about the time frame since Microsoft launched Bing–by CEO Steve Ballmer at the D: All Things Digital conference, by the way, in a highlight video you can see below–the stocks show some interesting changes.

Google is up just over three percent in the 30 days and Yahoo is down two percent. And Microsoft? Up more than 18 percent (see the chart below; click on it to make it larger).

That pop is likely due to a perception of momentum from continuing market share reports showing the early promise of Bing, which has also gotten good reviews so far as an innovative product.

That includes yet another yesterday by Efficient Frontier showing Microsoft’s share of paid clicks continued to rise.

Said search-engine marketing firm Efficient Frontier in a blog post:

“According to our data analysis, Bing expanded its share of paid clicks for the two weeks post launch. Bing’s share of paid clicks is up 13% for the second week post launch as compared to pre-launch. And, it represents an incremental 5% lift over the first week.”

The blog also correctly added: “However, as Danny Sullivan rightly cautions in a recent blog post on Bing, two weeks does not make a trend.”

Nope, but it is a nice boost for Microsoft shareholders, who have not had a lot of those of late–its stock is down 17.3 percent since last year and 17.7 percent since five years ago.

And here is the video of Ballmer launching Bing at D7 in an interview by Walt Mossberg:

Print Share Comment Tagged: BoomTown, D7, D: All Things Digital, Google, Internet, Kara Swisher, Microsoft, Walt Mossberg, digital, innovation, interview, search, video, Bing, blog, Danny Sullivan, Efficient Frontier, marketing, paid click, share, Steve Ballmer, stock | permalink

Follow Kara on Twitter | Follow AllThingsD on Twitter