AdWords and Bing Ads in 2016

The whole world "googles", and nobody seriously considers other possibilities for searching the World Wide Web. Why you should not only focus on advertising with Google, but also consider placing your ads on Microsoft's search engine Bing, will be explained in more detail below.

At first glance, Google AdWords and Bing Ads are hardly different from each other. The following illustrations show how paid ads are presented in both search engines.

Fig. 1: Display of ads on Bing; Source: Screenshot Bing

Fig. 2: Display of ads on Google. Source: Screenshot Google

The differences between Google and Bing

The search engines Google and Bing differ in several key areas. The first major difference concerns market share: In Germany, Google holds a market share of 93.3 percent. Only 2.5 percent of searches are conducted using Microsoft's search engine.

Fig. 3: Search engine market share Germany 2015; Source: www.seo-summary.de

A look at Europe shows a similar picture. Here, Google has a market share of 92.6 percent. Meanwhile, 2.6 percent of European internet users search with Bing.

Fig. 4: Search engine market share Europe 2015; Source: www.seo-summary.de

Analyzing market share from a global perspective, it is clear that Bing's reach is much higher in some countries like the USA compared to the German market (2.9 percent versus 19.3 percent).

Fig. 5: Search engine market share Worldwide 2015; Source: www.statcounter.com

The second significant difference between Google AdWords and Microsoft Bing lies in their features. Since 2013, Bing has made several enhancements to seriously compete with Google AdWords:

Ad Extensions: The Sitelinks extension provides additional links in the ads to increase their attractiveness and promise higher click rates. These were rolled out by Bing in 2015. Apart from Sitelinks, phone numbers and locations are also displayed.Shopping Ads: Through shopping campaigns and ads, you have an excellent opportunity to use images and product information to target users who are ready to buy. The so-called Product Listing Ads from AdWords are image ads displayed to the right of the organic search and marked as advertising. Unlike Google AdWords, Shopping Ads on Bing are currently only available in the USA. However, it is expected that these or similar features will soon be introduced for Bing Ads in Germany.

Tab. A glance at the differences between AdWords and Bing Ads; Source: Own representation

What are the advantages of Google AdWords and Bing Ads?

Apart from reach, both advertising networks offer various advantages.

Google AdWords Ads

The major advantage of AdWords is its greater reach. Google is the most widely used search network in the world. Moreover, several ad extensions are available compared to Bing. Extensions with additional information and snippet extensions are currently only available on AdWords, promising a better click rate for your ad. Google's paid ads also offer more intuitive management. The Google AdWords Application Programming Interface (API) and the offline tools like AdWords Editor are easy to learn and apply successfully.

Microsoft Bing Ads

Bing Ads have the advantage that the competition here is not as strong and the CPCs are therefore lower. Microsoft's paid ads also offer the opportunity to have more control over your ad group. This means you can set language and location settings and bid adjustments at the ad level. With Bing Ads, you can import your Google AdWords account and work more efficiently, allowing you to directly use your existing campaign structure and only need to make specific adjustments.

For more information about the market, features, and tracking of these two advertising networks, see our article: Bing Ads vs. AdWords - Market Features Tracking.

What we can do for you

Do you want to know how to best design and optimize your Bing and AdWords campaigns? Are you unsure in which search network you should specifically run your ads? We are happy to advise you. Contact us.