The "decision engine" finally has a decision to make.

Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bing has been gaining market share since its springtime launch, until now. Web-analytics specialist Hitwise confirms that Bing lost market share to leader Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) last month.

This isn't the end of the road for Bing. However, there is a fork. Does Microsoft accept its position as a second-tier search engine, or does it invest to get its positive momentum back? 

That's not an easy decision, because the company is already spending plenty on its televised ads. However, no one said that taking down Google would be easy. 

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week:

  • Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is lowering the price of its Kindle to $259. It's also offering an international version of the e-book reader at $279. It's getting harder to justify not making the leap to digital books with every Kindle price cut. (This is the third since its debut 23 months ago.)
  • Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) went public this week. It's the largest domestic IPO since Visa's (NYSE:V) debut last year. The insurance risk analyzer's stock closed sharply higher on its first day of trading. Care to analyze the risk in that?
  • Boeing (NYSE:BA) has yet another delay on its hands. It will be taking a $1 billion hit on its already late 747-8 freighter program. And you think your plane is late when it arrives at JFK two hours delayed?

Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz