Last week Microsoft published a post on their official blog about how their image search was superior to that of Google’s. They must have thought the post got the desired effect, because they just made another one, this one talking about 9 ways Bing ads beat Google Adwords. In the post they also acknowledge that most marketers choose Google AdWords first, then Bing Ads as a secondary network. Their hope, it seems, is to educate marketers on some of the most significant features they offer, which Google doesn’t. In brief, the nine points they made are as follows:
- Search Partner Performance – Bing offers additional visibility into search partner performance, and advertisers can control the investment better by offering a placement report.
- Search Partner Exclusion – You can block up to 500 sites at the campaign and ad group levels so ineffective or irrelevant ads are no longer displayed.
- Segment Search Partner Network Campaigns – This allows search partners to be targeted outside of the traditional campaigns, so average CPC bids can be better controlled.
- Conversion Multiple Pixel Duration Period – Set cookie tracking window to 7, 15, 30 or 45 days. Google only allows 30 days.
- Quality Score Reporting – More transparent quality score reporting available by day at the campaign, ad group or keyword performance level.
- Negative Keyword Conflict Report – Bing provides a report which will show conflicts between your campaign and your negative keyword list. This will help avoid missing out on ads being displayed due to an outdated or improper negative keyword list.
- Ad Group Level Settings – A variety of settings are available at the ad group level rather than just the campaign level. Things like geographic, ad rotation and advanced targeting are included here.
- Time Zone at Campaign Level – Bing allows the time zone to be set at the campaign level to allow for more targeted reporting and evaluation. This is especially useful for those running national or international campaigns.
- Transparency & Control – Enhanced campaigns allow marketers to control device targeted more easily.
The big question is whether or not marketers will take note of these benefits and begin to use, or expand their use of Bing Ads. There can be no doubt that virtually every marketer will see at least one or two points in this list which they would like, but will that be enough to start using Bing Ads in a more significant way. Naturally, Bing hopes it will.
