Article contents:
- An intro to how and why Microsoft came to own Bing.
- How many people search on Bing each month.
- Why is Bing good for businesses with small budgets.
- Who can help you get the best return on investment through Bing Advertising.
If you invest in Search Engine Marketing, this is big news for you and your business. Earlier this year, Microsoft and Verizon announced their partnership, which meant Microsoft was connected to Yahoo and AOL. However, Google was still servicing the Yahoo and AOL search ad network—until now.
Now Microsoft owns Bing, a lot of doors have opened. Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Advertising) gives you one platform to create and manage ads across the Bing and Verizon Media networks, including Yahoo, AOL, Windows 10, Outlook and more. It’s estimated (by Microsoft and Verizon) that this will increase clicks by targeted customers across the network by up to 10 percent.
Note: At this point in time, this merger is only in Australia but they anticipate it will be worldwide by the end of 2019.
Aside from the obvious benefits, many people are still hesitant to invest in Bing. But you needn’t be.
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8 Million Australians Search on Bing Each Month*
These 8 million people are running 144 million monthly searches, making up a 15% market share of search engines*. You could be one of the people who compares these 8 million users to other search engine’s statistics, or you could see it as an additional 8 million people you could reach. It’s not a number to mock.
Now Microsoft owns Bing, the two will most likely see all their platforms unite. Microsoft brings products like Windows 10 with Cortana to the table, while Bing is the default search browser for Amazon Kindle and provides image search results for Siri users on Apple devices. This will likely see advancements in using voice search (Cortana) in everyday life more and more.
Aside from the users of Bing and Microsoft products, what type of businesses use, or should be using, them?
Bing Advertising (Microsoft Advertising) Can Be a Goldmine if You Have a Small Budget & Know What You’re Doing
Bing’s ‘smaller-than-some’ user demographic is actually something you should be taking advantage of. Right now, Bing has one of the lowest Cost Per Click (CPC) averages across any other search engine marketing platform (see below the stats). Why? There is less competition and less untrained SEM users, meaning the platform’s keywords tend to be less competitive across the board, making them cheaper.
The average CPC on the Bing Advertising network (now the Microsoft Advertising network) in Australia ranges from $0.62 to $3.86**, depending on your industry. Combine a low CPC with the educated, higher-income-earning audience Bing maintains, and if you have the right targeting, it will help maintain a good return on investment (ROI).
Of course, you’ll still need to have some knowledge of how to structure campaigns optimally to get the best possible ROI.
Want to know more about advertising on Bing?
We’re a digital marketing service—you knew this was coming. If you’d like to get onto the Bing train before everyone else does, and do it the right way, get in touch with us now. Our digital marketing specialists can ensure your ads are created to best practice, helping you receive a better ROI—and a better ROI is good for business.
Contact us via our online enquiry form or by calling 1300 015 590 today.
Sources:
*Based on comScore 1 (custom), September 2019, Australia.
**Bing Ads Internal Data, April 2019
Feature image: Tadas Sar on Unsplash