Or Even Better, Use Them Together

“I’m not touching you.” (finger poke within one inch of face)
“Quit it!”
“I’m not touching you.”
“Stop!” (maintaining taunting finger poke position)
“I’m not even touching you.”
*Runs off screaming and crying

The above dialog is brought to you by siblings everywhere, and Google and Bing. The public perception seems to be that Google is the antagonizing older brother or sister and Bing is the younger sibling. What most marketers have realized over time, however, is that these PPC (pay-per-click) platforms are complementary. In other words, it’s not an either/or scenario but, rather, Google Ads and Bing Ads get clients the best results when used together. Let’s first take a look at how they differ.

The Main Differences Between Google and Bing

• While both have broad match, negative keyword targeting and a keyword research tool, the traffic volume is much higher for Google
• Bing ads tend to have higher click-through rates (CTRs) for shopping and financial services search verticals because of their many ads within the shopping and financial resources niches
• Although it varies from advertiser to advertiser, Bing Ads are generally cheaper than Google Ads because Bing PPC has less competition so clicks are cheaper and advertisers get more bang for their buck
• Bing allows for ad campaigns in different time zones where Google does not

We’re about to blow your mind with what we declare next but there are actually quite a few advantages that the lesser known and lesser used Bing Ads have over big bro Google Ads. In fact, Bing grew to 19.7 percent of the U.S. search market share last year, and Yahoo! saw a 10 percent increase in clicks. Many are also surprised to learn that there are 136 million unique searchers using the Bing Network and that 5.4 billion monthly searches are conducted on this same network. Still need to see more? 

Bing Ads’ Advantages Over Google Ads

1. More Effective Social Extensions

Bing started out testing social extensions in 2014, depicting the number of Twitter followers an advertiser has next to their ad. This is obviously huge in regards to social influence. Google shows their social extensions to Google+ followers but that platform is mostly just crickets chirping into the void these days.

2. Bing Ads Have Less Expensive CPCs

As we mentioned above, Bing Ads are less expensive than Google Ads. In fact, research has shown that Bing Ads’ cost per clicks are 33.5 percent cheaper on average. On top of saving this money, the Bing Ads often have better placement due to less competition. 

3. Bing Ads Allow for Campaigns in Different Time Zones

When creating a Google Ads campaign, you are required to set your ad scheduling, location, network, and language and, as such, you are restricted to these campaign settings. On the other hand, Bing Ads don’t force you to create a new campaign in order to adjust for any time change or variation in settings. 

4. Bing Ads Allow You To Drill Down Using Search Demographics

The Google Display Network allows for demographic targeting but no so in the search network. Bing Ads allow for demographic targeting at the ad group or campaign level. This is a super effective tool in the advertising tool box for those who know that a product or service is typically purchased by a specific age group or a particular gender.

5. Bing Ads Provide More Control Over Search Partner Targeting 

There are two choices for search at the Google campaign level, and those are to target Google search and search partners. You also can’t see which partner search engines are driving traffic to your site to use this information to fine tune your campaign. With Bing Ads, you can target just Bing and Yahoo!, just the search partners, or you can target a service or product that is often purchased by a particular group. You can also see which partners are driving traffic to your site by going to the reports tab and clicking on “Website URL”. Conversely, if you see a price or something else you don’t like by one of these search partners, you can easily opt out of using them with the “website exclusion” option.  

6. Bing Allows for More Mistakes During Searches

People are busy and the majority of us surely make mistakes when running searches on the internet on a daily basis. While Google used to allow a “close variant” matching option to be able to get the hits regardless of spelling errors, plurals, and variations on grammar, they no longer do so. Bing still allows this option for matching at the ad group and campaign level. 

7. Bing Offers Targeting Based on Devices

Google went to enhanced campaigns about six years ago, so all searches now default to desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. Bing allows you to home in on mobile devices by excluding tablets and desktops from searches. Considering that 64 percent of paid Google search clicks and 33 percent of all paid Bing search clicks came from mobile just last year, this is an ultra-effective targeting option.

The point of this blog post was not to dissuade you from using Google Ads…far from it. However, it should make you aware that there are many advantages to adding Bing Ads into any effective paid ad campaign to get the best results. If the idea of managing these sounds about as fun to you as getting an eye poke from your big brother, we can help. Contact us today to find out how we can launch an optimized campaign that will pay big dividends.