How They Work (and Compare to Google Ads)

If Googling has ever let you down, you may have stumbled upon another search engine called Bing.

This search engine is operated by Microsoft and aims to outperform Google at every turn. Bing wants to revolutionize digital search and keep up with the industry’s longstanding powerhouse.

It’s an ambitious goal, but one place where Bing stands out from the rest is in its Pay Per Click (PPC) ads. According to our guide, pay-per-click ads are “a form of search engine marketing (SEM) where the advertiser pays for clicks on an ad”.

In simple terms, the advertiser has to pay the publisher when a visitor interacts with the ad. In return, the ad is added to the search engine’s database, where the ad is displayed whenever the content matches a visitor’s searched keyword.

While Google Ads offers a popular PPC feature, Bing’s offers unique benefits that set it apart from the search engine giant. And if you’re a small to medium-sized business owner, you may be more interested in Bing’s PPC benefits than Google’s.

This post explains how Bing PPC ads work and how they compare to Google Ads.

Bing PPC

Bing PPC ads appear on Microsoft’s three popular search engines: Bing, Yahoo, and AOL. When you use Bing campaigns, your content is shared across all of these platforms at the same time. With over five billion monthly searches on the Microsoft network, Bing PPC is a remarkable marketing tool for paid advertising campaigns.

In terms of functionality, Bing PPC ads work similarly to Google ads. You bid on keywords based on their traffic volume, then your ad will appear when that keyword is searched, and eventually you will pay Bing when a visitor clicks your ad. Like Google, your ad copy can be up to 80 characters long, and Bing even has support tools that your team can use to create an inexpensive keyword list so you never waste money on ads that don’t show up.

Bing also lets you set up targeting filters that determine where and when an ad is posted. For example, if you only want your ad to appear on mobile devices, you can choose the mobile traffic option. If you’d like the ad to show exclusively on Yahoo, you can filter it by Bing and AOL as well. This gives your team more flexibility and optimizes the effectiveness of your PPC campaign.

Bing PPC Ads provide a timely opportunity for marketing teams. It’s less competitive than Google AdWords and its users shop 36% more online than any other search engine. While Google AdWords is still a very powerful tool, Bing has some advantages that make it attractive to small and medium-sized businesses. Now that we are familiar with how Bing PPC ads work, let’s discuss some of the key differences between Bing PPC and Google AdWords.

1. Bing Ads offers unique filter options and social extensions.

While Bing PPC and Google AdWords let you filter your ad targeting, Bing’s software has a unique innovation that sets it apart from Google. Bing allows you to set age filters for your search ads so that only visitors in a specific age group see them. You can also set up a location filter so that visitors in a specific part of the world can see your content. This way, you ensure that qualified leads are exposed to your marketing campaigns.

Another key feature that Bing has an advantage on is its social extensions. Social extensions are a copy of your ad that tells the visitor how many social media followers your business has. At Bing, this feature shows your social followers for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. However, Google AdWords can only show you the number of Google+ followers.

2. Google has wider reach, but Bing audiences are older and tend to have higher incomes.

According to Microsoft, Bing represents more than 34% of the global desktop search engine market. That means roughly every third person uses Bing through a different search engine.

More importantly, Bing’s PPC ads can reach 60 million users that Google AdWords can’t.

In terms of the largest audience, Google is the absolute favorite. But that doesn’t mean Bing isn’t worth the investment. Bing has over 137 million users who search approximately six billion times each month. These people are typically older than Google users and have incomes in excess of $ 100,000.

Although Google has a larger audience, Bing works with users who have significant purchasing power.

Image source

3. Bing users are interested in financial and purchasing services, so you may see higher conversion rates for Bing depending on your industry.

When tested by Blue Corona, Bing PPC recorded a 34% higher click-through rate than Google ads.

In addition, new research has shown that financial and purchasing services are most successful with Bing PPC. This is mainly due to the popular financial reporting from MSN and Yahoo, which provides more keywords related to online shopping and business reports.

Bing users tend to be busier with websites even after ad clicks. In one industry, Bing ads had a 56% higher conversion rate than Google AdWords. This is because Bing users tend to be more interested in ecommerce and willing to spend money online.

4. Bing ads often appear higher on the search results page.

Since Bing has fewer users, the ads in the search results tend to be displayed higher than in Google AdWords. In fact, Bing ads appear 35% higher than Google ads in search results.

Bing is copying Google’s keyword auction technique, which benefits users as they don’t have to outbid Google’s massive user base. With Bing’s less competitive market, you don’t have to bid as much on keywords to keep your place on the search results page.

5. Bing has a lower cost per click.

When fewer competitors are bidding on keywords, you can expect to spend less on your Bing ads. In fact, one company spent 35% less on Bing ads than it did on Google AdWords.

In terms of cost-per-click (CPC), ReportGarden found that the average CPC for Bing was $ 7.99 while that of Google was $ 20.08. Because there is less overall traffic on Bing, CPC is usually cheaper.

This offers an opportunity to get a strong ROI if you can use the right keyword at the right time.

Google Ads vs. Bing Ads: Which One Is Right For Your Business?

When you choose between Google AdWords and Bing PPC, both tools can be of great value to your marketing team.

With Google, you have access to a large audience with users from many different groups, and you can be confident that your content will appear in the world’s favorite search engine.

However, this area is very competitive and you need to carefully monitor your campaign if you want a positive return on your investment. Your marketing team will need a lot of resources and experience to make Google AdWords a reliable source for lead generation.

Bing PPC offers a lower risk option for paid advertising campaigns. You still have access to a large audience, but keyword bidding isn’t as competitive as it is on Google.

The disadvantage here is that the Bing traffic is significantly lower than that of Google. While your ads may rank higher and cost less, they may not get seen by as many people. This limitation can discourage larger companies with larger marketing budgets.

For more information on PPC ads, check out these PPC campaign tips.