Are we in for a shift in the search engine biz?

In the technology and Internet world things can change before even the first ripples begin to spread through the Web. For almost as long as most of us can remember Google has been the leader in search. Where all its competitors could barely muster enough eyeballs to get them even close to the double digit mark Google has ruled supreme.

However a couple of things that have happened over the past couple of weeks could very well change the balance of power in the search engine world. The first clue of the coming change was overshadowed by the announcement by Apple of their iPad but during that time it also came out that Apple and Microsoft were in talks for Bing to take over Google’s spot as the preferred search engine on the iPhone.

This follows on the heels of the deal that Bing cut with Verizon to become the default search engine on all non-Android phones. Those two things alone should be enough to make those interested in the search business to stand up and take notice.

But the real kicker came today as Facebook and Microsoft announced that while Facebook would be taking over the ad sales on the social network Bing was going to become the search engine of choice for Facebook worldwide. This means that Bing will now be serving up search results to some 400 million people worldwide.

Combine all those numbers together, Verizon, Apple’s iPhone, and now Facebook and suddenly Bing has the chance of becoming a formidable force in search. Sure that might not be enough to threaten Google’s dominance but it sure is enough to make a severe dent in the company’s percentages.

As Shoemoney said in a post the other day

Microsoft is a lion and they are relentless. They are the only company who have any shot at dethroning Google’s massive market share. They have the patients, money, and resources to do it.

And now it looks like they might be getting the numbers as well.