Let Me Bing That For You

Bing is an afterthought for many advertisers, but it has its place. It’s Microsoft Advertising nowadays, but I’ll probably think of it as Bing for years to come.

Its user base is disproportionately older and wealthier. While some Google-avoiders almost certainly use Bing, I believe that its main audience is people that don’t know how to change their browser’s default search engine. If you’re looking to advertise a considered purchase with a longer buying cycle, the Bing audience might be a better bet than the Google audience.

But, Bing has its fair share of downsides. While Microsoft makes it as easy as possible to replicate your AdWords success, Bing is still a different system, and its logistical hoops take some time to jump through. Google Analytics doesn’t do the goal-import handshake with Bing, so you’ll have to place the UET pixel and recreate your conversion actions. And for those of us that are addicted to our engagement metrics, not having average session durations and pages per session and such readily available within the ad interface is a disappointment. There is far less search inventory than on Google, so the amount of opportunity available often isn’t enough to tempt advertisers away from Google.

Regardless, I do recommend Bing for advertisers that are challenged by diminishing returns in Google Ads.