In 2017, Google launched Google for Jobs to change the way people conduct their online job search. It was a revolutionary moment and opened the eyes of other dominant players in the tech space. After years of development and refinement, a platform was available to aggregate, optimize, and present job data, all from within the world’s most powerful search engine window.
Five years later, Google for Jobs is marching ahead, consistently issuing updates to upgrade the user experience and supply even more jobs for users to see. But was Google destined to be the only player in this new AI-powered job search market space? Of course not. Google has company from the likes of Facebook with Facebook, Twitter working on its job search tool, and Microsoft with Bing for Jobs.
Microsoft’s Bing for Jobs – What Makes it Tick?
While Google for Jobs garnered much of the spotlight when it was launched back in 2017, Microsoft was steadfast in launching its own AI-powered job search tool; Bing for Jobs was online just six months after Google for Jobs launched. Even before the launch of Bing for Jobs, Microsoft had purchased Linkedin, one of the world’s largest professionally networking sites that free and sponsored job posts. It is estimated that Linkedin has 15+ million open job positions, which would serve as the core source for Bing for Jobs’ listings.
Google is still the world’s most dominant search engine, as its name is synonymous with search. Google accounts for over 87% of the searches in the US (as of December 2021); that being said, Bing is no slouch, coming in 2nd place to Google with over 6.3% of the United States search engine market share.
Much like Google for Jobs, when a user searches for “software developer” or “content writer” in the Bing search console, a search result box populates at the top of the page, listing jobs curated for the Bing window. There’s even some badging and language within the search result box that explains where the job is sourced from, whether Microsoft-owned Linkedin or the popular hourly work marketplace, Snagajob.
If we were to compare the AI-powered job search market as it is now to the space race of the 1950s and 1960s, we’re barely at the point of refining the rocket fuel. These platforms will all be racing to source the most jobs and present those open positions to the right talent. While Google for Jobs has the lead, the race is far from over, and platforms like Bing for Jobs will be aiming for the stars as well, with no intention of letting up.
If you found this blog interesting, please read our accompanying article “Sponsored Job Posts (CPC) – The Pros & Cons“
