Bing loses its bang with fewer ads

The monthly search engine rankings have become something of a must-read for those who follow the space, with Microsoft's vaunted Bing making huge inroads in the early months since its launch. Of course, Bing's rapid rise was underwritten by a massive $100 million online advertising campaign that essentially took over the Internet. As a result, many marketers and search watchers were wondering what would happen when the ad dollars stopped flowing.

The results are now in. The first real month to be measured for market share after the Bing ad binge was September and the numbers were not great for Microsoft (MSFT). Bing's rapid growth ground to a halt by some measures. By others, Bing actually lost market share.