10 Illuminating Points From Microsoft's Q1 Earnings

Microsoft Says Bing Upgrades Drove Increased Advertising Revenue

Microsoft saw a 47 percent increase in search advertising revenue during the quarter and now accounts for about 18 percent of the U.S. search query market.

Hood chalked up these gains to "some real technical improvements" Microsoft has made to the Bing search engine. The algorithms are better, and Microsoft is making Bing investments "allowing us to monetize at a higher level," Hood said during the call.