Have you “binged” anyone lately? Microsoft’s newest search engine, Bing was released in June on the heels of a $100 million advertising campaign and some very positive reviews. In their quest to give search engine giant Google a run for their money, Microsoft just might be onto something here.
Take a look at the new Bing and what it means as far as broadening your internet marketing horizons and reaching a whole new online audience.
The Bing Difference
So what makes Bing so different than Google or Yahoo? For one, Microsoft advertises Bing as a decision engine, as opposed to a search engine. The company says this about its latest product, “Bing will help you make smarter, faster decisions. We included features that deliver the best results, presented in a more organised way to simplify key tasks and help you make important decisions faster”.
According to several internet marketing professionals, Bing delivers nicely. The left sidebar includes related searches along with the user’s search history. This could help consumers narrow down their search terms in order to come up with more relevant results. It could also help them easily go back to a site they might have visited previously but didn’t bookmark.
Mouse over the small button to the side of each organic listing on the results page and you can read the first few sentences on the page, other content on the page sorted by headline, and a contact number or email address if available.
Changes To AdCenter And Content Network
In the past, MSN was unable to effectively compete with the traffic numbers and market reach enjoyed by Google. Of course, it is still too soon to tell if this will change with the addition of Bing, but early signs of popularity are promising.
In the meantime, Microsoft has put quite a bit of work into upgrading adCenter. The desktop tool now features add and edit settings to quickly allow an advertiser to boost their bid or set geo targeting parameters.
Microsoft has also released the full version of Content Network, their affiliate program with some similarities to Google’s AdSense. This new release includes site targeting and exclusion, ads in either text or image formats, and reports on placement performance. With Ad Intelligence, affiliates and publishers can access data on keyword monetisation.
These upgrades to both adCenter and Content Network are certainly a step in the right direction. From a pay per click perspective, Bing might enjoy better placement in the top search engine category thereby increasing ROI on advertising campaigns.
Bing’s travel search and shopping engines are very unique and loaded with features you won’t find elsewhere. For ecommerce sites in these markets, advertising dollars might be well spent at Bing, and offer lower rates than Google or Yahoo, at least for the time being.
The latest reports are showing a tremendous increase in Bing’s traffic after only a couple months of existence. Keep a close eye on this search engine newcomer as it could quickly surpass the popularity of the more traditional giants of the industry and offer more bang for your online advertising buck.
See you at the top of Google!
Sean Rasmussen
SEO Australia Pacific
AussieSEO.com © 2007 - 2010
It will be interesting to see how they go.
Sean, have you heard anything?
.-= Gee´s last blog ..Choosing Keywords and Understanding Their Importance =-.
Bing are continuing to gain market share so I have heard Gee.
Hi Sean,
Bing sounds interesting! Competition is always good, keeps the opposition on their toes. Bing is also geared towards affiliate marketing – this may bring benefits that we don’t have now.
A new search engine entering on the scene can be a good thing.
Hi Sean,
I have to admit that I haven’t paid much attention to Bing at all. I think that Bing might be a good option to move to once I get a handle on running PPC campaigns with the second tier advertisers.
I want to leave running PPC with Google until I get really good at it.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn Competition – This is It =-.
Hi Sean
I heard of Bing last year but never followed it up. I guess I am in the habit of staying with the familiar until forced to do otherwise (ouch!). But I have gone and had a look and I would like to spend some time doing a little more research on it to see how it can serve me better.
Jill mentioned that Bing is geared towards affiliate marketing so that has me interested in learning how that works. I have put it on my ‘to do’ list.
.-= Elly´s last blog .. =-.
I haven’t paid much attention to Bing in the year it’s been active. As an Internet Marketer it is to your advantage to be “using Bing to your marketing advantage”. Nevertheless, still tend to favour Google. However, after reading the article I did a little test. I searched for a name that appears in one of my blogs. The first name and surname are keywords for the article while the middle name appears solely in the content of the article.
The results: Google – 9 of the first 10 results were references to the blog and also to a genealogical web site also containing the name but having no keywords. Bing – 4 of the first ten referenced the blog and the web site.
So in my humble opinion, Google still has the edge but of course no search engines can be ignored and it’s essential to use resources wherever you find them.
.-= Don White´s last blog ..The Ukulele – A Very Brief History =-.