Google dominates when it comes to search engine traffic, making it easy to find people interested in your products and services.

While that’s a huge benefit, it also comes with a massive downside:

Competition.

Meanwhile, people brush off Bing like it’s a joke.

And that’s good for business:

Less competition.

Bing might have less overall usage and therefore less traffic, but what if you could capture that traffic without competing against dozens of advertisers?

Bing PPC

Bing PPC ads operate 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 once. With over five billion monthly searches being made on the Microsoft network, this makes Bing PPC a notable marketing tool for paid ad 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 is displayed when that keyword is searched, and finally, you pay Bing whenever a visitor clicks on your ad.

How do Microsoft(Bing) work?

Bing Ads work slightly differently than Google Ads.

Bing is currently owned by Microsoft, who also owns Yahoo and AOL.

Advertising on Bing means that your ads will display on all three search engines: Bing, Yahoo and AOL.

On top of that, Bing Partner Sites allow you to display both text and visual-based ads.

Are clicks on Bing Ads cheaper than Google?

Bing Ads has a reputation for lower costs-per-click than Google, in large part because of less competition. For one of my clients, the average CPC last month on Google Search was $3.96, but only $2.15 for identical keywords in Bing Ads, and Bing gave us higher ad positions.

To help you estimate CPC, Bing has its own Keyword Planner tool within the Bing Ads dashboard.

Why use Bing Ads?

Bing Ads is one of those overlooked gems in an advertiser’s arsenal. Though the platform is smaller than Google, its users are often more engaged. Clicks may be less expensive on Bing than on Google. You can easily import your Google campaigns. And, by ignoring Bing, you may be missing out on customers looking for exactly what you have to offer.

PROS AND CONS OF BING

Pros: Bing + Yahoo. Although not close to Google, Bing is the second most used search engine.  It’s AdCenter also serves ads for Yahoo, generating a Yahoo Bing Network which represents both engines combined. Therefore, with Bing ads, you are reaching two different audiences.

Pros: Less Expensive. Bing is less popular than Google, so it can mean that there is less competition for keywords, generally lowering the bidding price (but not always).

Pros: Larger Character Limit. Bing allows for a 40 character title, while Google has a 25 character limit. This can help give you more targeted ad text and keyword specificity on Bing.

Pros: Top-of-Page Ad Placement. Bing shows more ads at the top of the search engine page when compared to Google, which is a highly desirable ad placement because those are most easily found and seen.

Cons: Less Traffic. Bing has a much smaller market share than Google, so if you concentrate too much there,  you could lose potential customers who are not using Bing or Yahoo as their search engine.

Short conclusion

Each company is different and each buyer is different, so it is important to consider all options when it comes to generating targeted traffic to your site.  But if you have the budget, and are careful about implementation, give Bing PPC a try!