When it comes to a pay-per-click campaign, the first platform most marketers run to is Google Ads. It’s no wonder. Google boasts 92.18% of search engine market share. Brands and marketers using Google Ads benefit from the largest search engine in the tech world, and thus, have access to the largest audience.
But if you think real hard, you may recall that there are some other search engines out there, too. Like Bing. Remember Bing? When was the last time you thought about Bing?!
Okay, if it’s this difficult to call up Bing in your memory, why would it even be a consideration for running paid search campaigns? Does Bing actually draw in enough people to ensure your ads have a positive return on investment? Will it be worth your time to create keyword lists and ad groups, write ad copy, set targeting parameters, and manage campaigns ongoing?
The short answer is, it depends.
I know, I know, that’s an annoying answer. But it’s true.
Bing does have some advantages and we’ve found it to be an extremely successful paid search platform for some clients. But that all depends on the product or service, and the target audience.
So let’s dig into the differences of Bing Ads (now called Microsoft Adveritising, but that’s too cumbersome, so “Bing” it is for me!) to help you determine if it could be a successful paid search platform for your brand.
Bing has less volume, but it's also less expensive
Search volume is significantly lower on Bing than it is on Google. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Since there are fewer users searching on Bing, there are fewer competitors bidding on keywords. Bing ads appear 35% higher in search results than on Google, and some businesses report spending as much as 35% less.
Lower costs and higher placement?! Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, huh?!
Bing is growing in the UK
One thing that Bing has going for itself, is that it is an ever growing platform. It was reported that while not as popular in the U.S. it is growing in popularity in the UK. With more people turning to Bing, it offers you the opportunity to get your ads seen by those using Bing over Google.
Bing ads power three different search engines
One of the biggest positives of using Bing, is the ability to be featured on three platforms which include Bing, Yahoo and AOL. This allows you to market on three platforms for one price and from one interface.
Bing has a higher click through rate
One of the key figures of any advertising campaign is click through rate (CTR). A recent Wordstream article has shown that Bing records better CTRs than Google.
According to their data, the average CTR on Bing across all industries is 2.83%, which is approximately 50% higher than Google Ads.
This higher CTR could possibly be attributed to fewer businesses using Bing and better ad placement. This leads to improved connections between search terms and advertisements.
Bing is a bit more relaxed on ad restrictions
One disadvantage of being the million pound beast in the industry is that Google is constantly in the spotlight. Over the years, this attention has lead to criticism about some of their ad practices , and resulted in more strict policies for advertisers.
Bing’s second-class status has spared them some of this harsh criticism, and thus they are able to be a bit more relaxed about restrictions.Here’s a short list of things you CAN advertise on Bing, but not Google:
Alcohol
Adult content
Gambling and games
Healthcare and medicines
Financial services
Affiliate links
For a full list of disallowed content and subjects, check Bing’s advertising policy. If you’ve been restricted on Google, it’s worth checking out Bing to see if you’re safe there.
Bing's audience is older and more affluent
It’s been shown that people using Bing skew a bit older and spend a bit more than those on Google.
The typical user on Bing is over the age of 35, with the majority of users falling between the ages of 55 and 64, and being parents. One-third of Bing users have a HHI of $100,000 or more, and 22% more was spent online with Bing than on average search engines.
So, if you are trying to reach people 35+ that are willing to spend money (and who isn’t?!), Bing can be a great source for getting in front of this older, more spendy population.
Bing ads can be replicated easily from Google
If you already have ad campaigns running with Google, you can quickly transfer them to a Bing Ads campaign. This allows you to create a campaign that unites both advertising campaigns, giving you the largest audience possible. This relieves the stress for marketing teams of hunting down keywords and remaking the ads that worked on Google.
We don’t run Bing campaigns for every client, but if we’re trying to reach an older audience, we’re looking for ways to stretch a smaller budget, and/or we need to expand coverage, Bing can be a valuable and successful platform.
If you’d like to learn more about Bing Ads or you’re ready to get started on your campaign, give us a shout.