Listing products on Bing
Bing Ads is one of many online marketing channels to choose from. We know it can be tempting (and expensive) to list your products on every channel, so we’re here to make it easier.
However, you should know that each marketplace and marketing channel functions in totally different ways. The key to eCommerce success is to choose a channel that will work well for your online business.
You’ve likely heard of a platform called Bing. We’re going to discuss everything about this platform that you may need to know, including:
- What is Bing?
- Setting up Bing
- How much Bing costs
- Pros and cons of Bing
- Bing Features
- Supported Countries
- Conclusion
For more about Bing from ShoppingFeeder, check out our other article about Setting up Bing Product Ads.
What is Bing?
Bing is a rival search engine to Google and was created by Microsoft in 2009. Typically, Google is perceived as being more popular than Bing; however, we think Bing is an incredible resource for your online store.
Bing Ads
The primary type of ads on Bing is Bing Product Ads. This ad uses your product feed to show real-time ads to Bing users. Bing will display Product Ads while users perform product-related searches.
Bing Product Ads work best for B2C businesses, such as an eCommerce retail store.
Bing Product Ads include:
- The image of your product, product title and the price and name of your website.
- Real-time information is pulled from your product feed, meaning that any updates will reflect in real-time.
- Bing Product Ads stand out from other results on the page and can be more engaging than regular search results.
Like Google, Bing charges for Product Ads with a pay-per-click (PPC) model. Therefore, you will only pay when a user clicks on your ad. This method also gives you the chance to convert the visitor into a customer.
Setting Up Bing Ads
Setting up Bing Product Ads works similarly to Google Product Listing Ads in the way they are set up. They are also similar in how ads and products are displayed.
Though, with Bing’s text-based PPC ads, Bing uses the information in your product feed instead of any chosen keywords.
How much does Bing Cost?
Because Google is more popular, it also comes with a higher price tag when compared to Bing. As you will be working with PPC, it’s important to target relevant keywords that you will pay for.
The price you pay for your ad will depend on the keyword you’ve chosen. A single keyword can range from under $1 to around $10, so it would be wise to test a few keywords that may help you reach more people for less.
Free Bing Product Listings
You may not know that Microsoft announced Free Product Listings on Bing last year.
Suppose you are in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and Germany. In that case, you are eligible to sign up for Free Product Listings on Bing this year as the service is expanded.
Like with Google’s free listings, this offer is currently available to users with a Microsoft Merchant Center store containing approved products.
Why should I use Bing?
- CPC – It is cheaper than using Google when it comes to Cost-Per-Click. Lower competition means more affordable advertising costs and better positioning for your ads.
- Search Demographics: You can tailor your ad campaign targeting based on gender, age and more.
- Better device targeting – you can change bids depending on the mobile device used, such as tablets, desktop computers, smartphones and more.
- A unique demographic: Bing’s user demographic is slightly different from Google’s, meaning you can target a different subset of people. Over 1/3rd of Bing users earn $100,000+ per year.
- Yahoo integration: Bing ads serve as the ad centre for Yahoo as part of the Yahoo Bing Network, representing both Yahoo and Bing search engines. You can capture some of Yahoo’s audience by using Bing.
- Top of ad placement: Bing can show more ads at the top of its search engine than Google. You can benefit from more visibility that Google may not offer when looking at competitive keywords.
Considerations when using Bing
Some of Bing’s drawbacks include:
- Less traffic. Compared to Google, Bing has a smaller market share, and therefore you may miss out on users who only use Google.
- They have limited geographical presence. Bing ads are not yet available in every country like Google is.
- Lower click-through-rate (CTR). Bing ads get fewer clicks than Google due to the sheer amount of traffic involved.
Bing Features
Here are some of the best features Bing has to offer:
- Image Search, including advanced features allowing searching for different layouts.
- Bing’s Video Search has a great design, presented as a grid of thumbnails
- For US and select EU users, Earn Microsoft Rewards every time you use Bing, which can be redeemed at several outlets
- Social media is integrated well within search engine results pages.
- Integrated localized news and media headlines at the bottom of the homepage help users read more news without clicking or typing.
Supported Countries
Bing Ads currently offers support for:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam.
The above list represents Bing ads’ current support and does not include AOL, Yahoo or any other partner sites.
Importantly, your business does not need to be located in any of the countries listed above to advertise. For instance, you could be based in South Africa and list in the United States by targeting those users with your account.
Conclusion
Bing is a beneficial platform for online merchants, and has recently rebranded to Microsoft Advertising.
While it may not be as popular as Google, there are many benefits to using Bing in its own right. Bing can be more cost effective than Google for the same keyword, for example.
Give Bing a chance and let us know how you perform!
