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Microsoft Has Lost $5.5 Billion On Bing Since 2009

Posted by Unknown on from the feed-the-cash-fired-stove dept.

Landing on slashdot for the first time, MightyMartian writes "According to CNN Money, Microsoft has lost $5.5 billion on Bing since its launch in 2009. But it gets even better. If you include Microsoft's other online offerings, all the way back to 2007, the losses are somewhere in the neighborhood of $9 billion. But not to worry, analysts expect Bing to become profitable in 'three to four years.'"

5 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. It's an investment. by ge7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google is in the same situation elsewhere - they're spending LOTS of money to try to gain market share in Russia and China, but so far they're being crushed by the local giants Yandex and Baidu. These companies see it as a long-term campaing and have the means and money to do it. After all, it's still a lot easier to try to gain market share now than it will be in 20-30 years. Even if things are quite laid down now, they will be even more so all the time when time passes.

    It's also just corporate finances. Even if Microsoft's online division loses money, it gains them recognizition and sales elsewhere. The one good thing about Microsoft is that they tend to stick to what they started. It's not like Google who might just cancel the product you're using the next day.

    So if they don't keep investing to it now, they're basically letting Google have 99% of western search engine market. I really don't want that happen either - competition is good.

    1. Re:It's an investment. by gcnaddict · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The one good thing about Microsoft is that they tend to stick to what they started.

      ...unless you're a developer.

      How many platforms has Microsoft killed in a short timeframe in the name of the future?

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    2. Re:It's an investment. by kirkb · · Score: 3, Insightful

      WPF. It was supposed to be an all-new programming paradigm, but was too little, too late. Performance was abysmal, and this never got fixed. Now it gets replaced with WinRT.

      http://fixwpf.org/

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  2. A good thing... by recoiledsnake · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a good thing because the search business is really cut throat and the cost of entry is too high for anyone else. Atleast Google is kept on toes by Bing, and people looking to get away from the increasingly all-encompassing Google have a second choice.

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  3. Microsoft & its Shareholders by geoffrobinson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've never seen a company waste so much money just to become a growth stock again. They should have taken the massive amounts of money they spent on XBox and Bing and just given it to the stockholders.

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