Microsoft losing '$1 billion per quarter on Bing'

Microsoft's search engine Bing is allegedly costing the firm $1 billion (£620m) in losses per quarter.

CNN Money reports that the venture has racked up a deficit of $5.5 billion (£3.5bn) to date, and is yet to turn a profit for its online search division.

Stefan Weitz, Microsoft's director of the search engine, said: "Our challenge is that no-one wakes up in the morning and says, 'I really wish there was a better search engine'.

"That's why, for us, it's always been about figuring out how to accomplish more than we thought was possible with a search engine. Eventually, people will expect to do more with search, and if they can't, they'll be disappointed."

The report also notes that Microsoft's online search department has suffered total losses of $9 billion (£5.8) since it began releasing financial figures in 2007, despite holding a 14.7% share of the market.

Despite the reported deficit, Microsoft's share in the online search sector is said to be increasing, due to its partnership with Yahoo.

Google is the current market leader in the internet search field with a 64.8% share. The firm is currently under investigation for allegedly abusing its dominance.

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