Microsoft’s search and news advertising divisions have seen their revenues jump by 10 per cent year-on-year, with LinkedIn advertising and growth in the number of Bing users leading the charge.
This was the first quarterly earnings announcement from Microsoft since the release of its AI-powered Bing search engine and the company had already revealed that the new tech saw increased interest from users.
“The world’s most advanced AI models are coming together with the world’s most universal user interface – natural language – to create a new era of computing,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chairman and CEO.
“Across the Microsoft Cloud, we are the platform of choice to help customers get the most value out of their digital spend and innovate for this next generation of AI.”
However, while Microsoft saw gains in its advertising revenue, the Office and Windows giant is starting from a very low ebb. LinkedIn brought in just under US$3.7 billion (almost AU$5.6 billion) and Microsoft’s Search & Advertising business took home US$3 billion (AU$4.59 billion).
Nadella said that Bing now has more than 100 million daily active users and much of that growth had come from interest in its AI-powered searching capabilities.
YouTube alone made Google AU$10.09 billion in the last quarter — a 2.6 per cent drop from the same time last year.
