Bing Ads or Google Ads? 6 Advantages of Each Method

1. Google Has More Reach, but Bing Is Catching Up

Almost everyone knows that Google is currently the dominant search engine, but that doesn’t mean that you should only invest in Google ads. Bing, which is a company owned by Microsoft and includes Bing, Yahoo, and AOL, currently has around 34% of the market share when it comes to online searches on a desktop computer. 136 million people use the network, searching 5.4 billion times every month, so there is plenty of potential to explore. Which company you choose might also depend on the type of market you’re hoping to attract. Around 63 million of the Bing users solely use this company, so you are missing out on a lot of potential customers if you’re solely focused on Google ads. A large part of them are 35-54 years old and have a high household income. In fact, one-third of the Bing users make over $100k per year. Advertising on Bing could be great if you’re targeting this kind of audience.

2. Bing Is Cheaper

If you’re just starting out, you will be looking to advertise to a large audience at a minimal cost. Budgets fluctuate, and you may see different results from other advertisers depending on your niche and conversion rate, but many people have found that using Bing has significantly reduced their costs. In some instances, the cost per click on Bing is less than half that on Google.  This is because there is a lot less competition on the platform, whereas the market is more saturated on Google and people are less likely to respond to your ads. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should use Bing instead of Google. Sometimes, the quality of traffic might be higher on the latter platform, which means that more of your clicks will convert into sales, thereby increasing your profits.

3. You Have Greater Control on Bing

Another distinct advantage of Bing is that you’ll have more control over the advertisement you present to potential customers. This applies particularly to device targeting, which is when you choose who sees your content based on which device and OS they are using. This feature is very limited on Google, but Bing allows you to choose whether you want to display to both desktop and mobile users or not. Both platforms enable you to control the location, language, network, ad rotation, and ad scheduling settings, but when using Bing, you can also adjust the ad groups. What’s more, it’s possible to set different ads for different time zones, which is not an option with Google. For more advanced advertisers who know exactly what they want, this additional level of control can be very helpful in fine-tuning their business.

4. Google Offers More Ad Copy Space

Many people like to add copy to their advertisements to better communicate the message to their potential customers. Although both options allow you to do this, Bing is more restrictive, so you’ll have to keep it short. You can add 1-2 headlines of up to 30 characters, a description of up to 80 characters, and a display URL of up to 15 characters.  On the other hand, Google gives you a bit more leeway when it comes to describing your product. When using Google ads, you can use 1-3 headlines of up to 30 characters, 1-2 descriptions of up to 90 characters, and a display URL of up to 15 characters. This extra space could prove vital for some advertisers, and it can make A/B testing of different copy much easier.

5. Google’s Conversion Rate Is Better

The conversion rate is defined as the number of users who complete the goal of your advertisement, for example, to visit your website and get in touch, or to purchase your product online, when compared with the people who clicked on your ad but then didn’t complete the required action. On Bing, this is 2.94%, while it is 3.75% on Google. While these numbers might seem close, the extra conversions will serve you well when growing your business on Google. As always, it’s important to remember that these statistics are averages, so they might not apply to your own business. This is particularly true if you are targeting married, middle-aged people with a high income, which is Bing’s main target group. Experimenting with both search engines and seeing which one works better for your business could be the best way to find out what conversion rate you can expect from each option.

6. Google’s Keyword Search Volume Is Much Bigger

Both search engines allow you to research keywords and do both positive and negative keyword targeting. Google has a lot more traffic than Bing, which means that the search volume for each keyword will be much larger. This means that many more people might potentially see your content, but it also attracts many more advertisers who are looking to sell their products on Google. Bing often has a higher click-through rate in certain niches, such as financial services or shopping, so it can be a great choice for those types of businesses. The reason is that Yahoo and AOL provide financial reporting resources to their visitors, so you are targeting an audience that is already very interested. Since both Google and Bing have good keyword options, the one you choose will depend on your target market and what you’re hoping to achieve. Get in touch with us at GooRooz to speak to one of our marketing experts, who can help you make the best decision for your online business.]]>