Bing <i>must</i> use this plan of attack. It's by far the smartest approach (of those I can think of, anyway). Hear me out:<p>Bing's presumed goal: overtake Google on a global scale, right? At first glance, it may look like they're ignoring the world outside the U.S., but that <i>isn't</i> the case. They're just biding their time. (Pulling an Onyx, if you will.)<p><i>Why not just take on Google all over the globe to begin with?</i> I can think of a couple reasons:<p>1. They might not know how. Microsoft and Google are both American companies with mostly American employees, so they may seem like they're on equal footing to compete both within the U.S. and abroad, but Google has years and years more experience in trying to solve the international puzzle. Bing can't compete with that yet, and they know it.<p>2.a) If you know you can't compete, DON'T. If Bing were to launch a global attack on Google right off the bat, they'd essentially be diverting troops from a (perhaps) winnable battle in the U.S. in order to fight an extremely uphill battle everywhere else, a battle they know they'll lose initially.<p>Both of those would be very harsh realities for Bing to face. Too harsh.<p>2.b) Bing needs to give themselves the best possible chance to win in the U.S. because it's by far their best chance at both initial and longer-term success. You can't win a global war if you can't win a battle in your backyard.<p>2.c) But perhaps even more importantly, Bing knows how badly they'll lose in international markets at this stage in their development of their search technology, the vast majority of which has been developed by Americans, for Americans. If they make a truly concerted effort anywhere else and still get their asses kicked, it's far worse for their future international prospects than losing before they start trying. Were Bing to devote a ton of manpower and resources to say, Brazil, and still lose to Google there, it'd be an asskicking PLUS press coverage, the latter of which would risk turning potential Brazilian users off to a future, much-improved, "Brazilian" Bing.<p>Conclusion: Bing's optimal international strategy <i>right now</i>...<p>...is to lack one entirely. Bide time. Devote all your manpower and resources to fight over the American market for now. Improve your search technology until you can legitimately compete with Google at home. Then, once you can do that, optimize your search technology for a few key international markets. Thanks to your success in the U.S., you'll be better able to give Google a serious run for their money in whichever markets you choose to take a stab at. Rinse and repeat.