No. Microsoft didn't buy Bing: it built it. Bing is Microsoft's own search engine, launched in 2009 as the successor to MSN Search and Live Search. The confusion usually comes from Microsoft's 2009 deal with Yahoo, in which Bing started powering Yahoo's search results, and from Microsoft's attempt to buy Yahoo in 2008.
What Microsoft actually bought
- Farecast (2008), a service that predicted airfare prices. It became part of Bing Travel.
- Powerset (2008), a natural-language search start-up whose technology was folded into Bing.
Both were small acquisitions that added features. The search engine itself was already Microsoft's.
The Yahoo bid that failed
In early 2008 Microsoft offered to buy the whole of Yahoo for about $44.6 billion. Yahoo rejected the offer and Microsoft withdrew it in May 2008. So Microsoft never owned Yahoo, and Yahoo never owned Bing.
The Microsoft–Yahoo search deal (2009)
On July 29, 2009, the two companies announced a 10-year agreement instead of a takeover:
- Bing would provide the search results on Yahoo's sites.
- Microsoft got a licence to Yahoo's core search technology.
- Yahoo would sell premium search ads and keep most of the search revenue from its sites in the early years.
The switch-over began in 2010. The deal was reworked in 2015 to make it non-exclusive, and Bing still supplies results to Yahoo.
Why the myth persists
Seeing “Powered by Bing” on Yahoo, the failed 2008 bid, and the fact that Bing appeared suddenly with a brand-new name all make it look like an acquisition. The history in our Bing timeline shows the continuous line from MSN Search to Bing.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Bing?
Microsoft owns and operates Bing.
Does Yahoo use Bing?
Yes. Since 2010 Yahoo's search results have largely come from Bing under their partnership.
How much did Bing cost Microsoft?
Microsoft never published a total. Its online services division lost billions of dollars a year in the years around Bing's launch while it invested in search.