Overview: Bing is currently one the newest and fastest growing search engines produced by
Microsoft. This new search engine offers consumers an organized search experience. In 2009,
Microsoft announced a deal with Yahoo! that Bing would power Yahoo! Search. To emphasize
its efforts, Microsoft is avoiding the term “search engine" altogether, preferring to call Bing a
"decision engine"--a phrase that suggests it is possible to find without searching and that those
who use Bing will be presented with a silver platter upon which their information needs will be
neatly dissected into easily digestible pieces. (Johnson, 2009) Advertisers can connect with a
growing and engaged audience by serving relevant ads to target consumers, right when they are
making purchasing decisions. (Microsoft Advertising, 2010) Since Bing is currently a new
search engine there aren’t as many other advertisers compared to Yahoo and Google, therefore
you can afford more advertising. This means there is less competition, higher CTRS, and
cheaper CPC’s. (Now Sourcing, 2009) As an advertiser, placing advertising campaigns on Bing
can help develop immediate consumer results. This will reach out to a growing and engaged
audience of over 73 million unique consumers with relevant ads while they are in the decision
mode. (Microsoft Advertising, 2010) The growing search market has continued to withstand the
recession, increasing growth during recent months and gaining share on other forms of
advertising. (Klaassen, 2009) It accounted for 47% of second-quarter internet ad spending, up
from 44% a year ago, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and
PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Klaassen, 2009) Bing is currently rising and becoming a top
contender competing with both Google and Yahoo!==Reasons for Using Bing: Bing offers
several places to advertise throughout their website, mostly through using a search term that
generates ads relevant to what you are searching for. Since Bing is currently a new search engine
there is less competition, although Bing is in the growth stage where the company is still
increasing revenue, and there aren’t as many other advertisers compared to Google and Yahoo!
This gives businesses a chance to advertise and afford more. Bing developers included a lefthand side of their search results pages a vertical block of information called a Explore Pane (that
offers navigation tools, including subject and document type limiters; categorized subsets of
related terms; suggestions for related terms or concepts, and search history. (Johnson,2009) Bing
also offers apps that you can access at the bottom on their homepage including: Bing in your
pocket, an app where you can access Bing from your mobile phone, Bing ‘friends’ Facebook,
where Bing search becomes social, and Popular Now, which lists the current top five most
popular searches. Bing currently has the highest power index, which compares one submarket's
relative rental rate strength with other submarkets, of the top four major search engines.
(Microsoft Advertising, 2010) This new “decision engine” is constantly increasing in popularity
and consumers are starting to become more aware. A recent survey commissioned by Microsoft
showed that 86% of respondents felt that an organized results page was the single most important
feature of a search engine. (Klassen,& Learmonth, 2010)
Limitations: Although, advertising on-line is becoming increasing more popular for companies
to invest in, there are still limitations from the buyer’s perspective. Placing Ads on search
engines sites can be tricky and consume much of your time attempting to meet their guidelines.
The engines can deny your ads approval simply because they are not relevant enough to your
keywords or business for various reasons. (searchengineland, 2010) Some reasons that the search
engine may deny your approval include: unusual spellings, repetitive words, the ads cannot
contain any offensive or inappropriate language, be a duplicate of an ad in the same ad group, or
use any general, non-specific call to action such as “click here”. (searchengineland, 2010) The
engines can deny your ads approval simply because they are not relevant enough to your
keywords or business. (searchengineland, 2010)
Costs: The costs of advertising on search engines websites such as Bing depends on how much
you are willing to spend of advertising, where you want your ads to be placed, and how often
you want your ads to appear. With search engine advertising, the amount you spend on your
campaign is based on two factors: your monthly search campaign budget and your maximum bid
(Microsoft Advertising, 2010) Microsoft search advertising is based on a pay-per-click. (PPC)
cost model. (Microsoft Advertising, 2010) PCC is a form of advertising where a web site
marketer will pay only when someone clicks through their web site. The cost per each time a
consumer clicks on the website is determined by a bid. You must starts with base bid, which is
the maximum amount you’re willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad. (Microsoft
Advertising) With search advertising, one cent more than the next highest bid guarantees your ad
is displayed. (Microsoft Advertising) If you track your pay-per-click frequently it could be really
successful. With costs ranging from $3,000 to $15,000 per month, advertising options—from
email solutions, online shopping, datafeeds, and banner advertisements to an integrated media
solution utilizing both search and display. (Microsoft Advertising, 2010)
Reach and Frequency: Reach is defined as the number of different people who are exposed to an
advertising message at least once. Reach is what advertisers strive to achieve to get their product
known and reach their target audience. When reach is stated, media planners are aware of the
size of the target audience. (Admedia, 2007, 2.2.1). The reach for search engines such as Bing
ranges depending on what the consumer is searching for. Media planners want the highest reach
possible because that means more people will be exposed to the campaign,which lead to more
brand awareness, customer loyalty, and sales. (Admedia, 2007, 2.2.1).
Frequency is defined as the number of times someone is exposed to the message. Media planners
seek high frequency if they feel that consumers will only take action (that is, buy the product)
after multiple exposures to the campaign. (Admedia, 2007, 2.2.1). Frequency will make
consumers become more aware of your product. Although, frequency is important to get your
audience engaged, having a memorable advertising campaign is really the key.
Scheduling: (continuous, pulsing, flighting)
Scheduling is determining when ad campaigns should appear. Media planners can choose
among three methods of scheduling: continuous, flighting, and pulsing. (Admedia, 2007, 3.3)
Continuity scheduling spreads media spending evenly across months. (Admedia, 2007, 3.3)
Advertisers will spread out their money to advertise continuously throughout their campaign.
The flighting method advertises across months, with heavy advertising in certain months and no
advertising at all in other months.(Admedia, 2007, 3.3) An example, if you own a store that sells
Christmas decorations you would purchase more advertising around the Christmas season to
reach your target audience. Pulsing combines the both continuous and flighting methods, so that
the brand maintains a low level of advertising across all months but spends more in selected
months. (Admedia, 2007, 3.3) To determine which methods to use depends on seasonality,
consumers’ product cycle, and consumer’s interval between decision-making consumption.
(Admedia, 2007, 3.3)
Impact on Advertising: Bing is currently in the growth stage which means sales are growing at
an increasing rate. The growing search market has continued to withstand the recession,
increasing growth during recent months and gaining share on other forms of advertising
(Klaassen, 2009). Since Bing is a new and developing search engine there is less competition
making it more affordable to advertise. Bing ad network is broad giving you a way to connect
with audiences either on a targeted or a performance basis, for excellent reach on a network you
can trust. (Microsoft Advertising, 2010). ==Brand Awareness measures the likelihood that
consumers recognize a company’s product or service. This is the primary goal for advertisers to
achieve. Bing is enhancing their brand awareness by creating a buzz about their product. Social
media plays an important role, allowing Microsoft to listen to what people were saying about
Bing and respond. (Bulik, 2009)One example is a photo contest where the winner's work was
posted to the Bing home page brought 18,000 submissions in two weeks, and a Bing jingle
contest garnered dozens of submissions and thousands of views (Bulik, 2009).
Audience Qualities: The general audience for Bing is internet users. Bing currently has a
growing and engaging audience of over 15 million unique searchers. (Microsoft Advertising,
2010) More than 12.8 million Bing users do not use Google sites and more than 30 million of
them do not use Yahoo! (Microsoft Advertising, 2010) Bing is targeting internet users by
defining themselves as a faster and smarter “decision engine”. Bing users make an average of
almost $62,000 a year in the US, which is higher than Yahoo! (Microsoft Advertising, 2010).
''We have had a great start and some good buzz,'' said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president for
Microsoft's online audience business group. ''We're settling in for a big long run.'' (Helft, 2009)
Responsiveness: To measure the responsiveness advertisers use Pay-per-click when marketers
pay for every time someone clicks on their page or website. This is calculated into graphs, charts,
surveys and consumer feedback. Bing is increasing in sales and starting to become very
competitive with Google. One example, The Samsung Fascinate, is a new phone, where you can
download a Bing app instead of Google which is only available to Verizon costumers
(AndroidGuys, 2010).
Interesting Facts: By using Bing you are able to make your own homepage. Daily, Bing changes
the back-round picture of their homepage. You can click on the picture and it will tell you an
interesting fact about it and link you to more information. Bing has several apps to choose from
to help you find exactly what you are looking for. Overall, Bing is a decision engine" that
presents internet searching on a “silver platter “upon which their information needs will be neatly
dissected into easily digestible pieces. (Johnson, 2009)
References:
Advertising Media Planning and Strategy - Internet Advertising.(2007). Advertising Media
Planning and Strategy - Internet Advertising. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from
http://www.admedia.org/
Android Guys. (2010, September 7). Samsung Fascinate Uses Bing Instead of Google. Retrieved
November 17, 2010, from http://www.androidguys.com/2010/09/07/samsung-fascinate-binggoogle-search/
Bulik, Beth Snyder (2009, November 16). BING. Advertising Age; Vol. 80 Issue 39, p18-18.
Retrieved November 17, 2010, from Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost.
Helft, Miguel (2009 August 14). Bing Delivers Credibility To Microsoft. New York Times; p1.
Retrieved November 17, 2010, from Academic Search Complete ESBCOhost.
Johnson, Benjamin E (Nov 2009). Bing or Bust: Can Microsoft Cure 'Search Overload
Syndrome'? Computers in Libraries; Vol. 29 Issue 10, p36-40. Retrieved November 17,2010,
from Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost.
Klaassen, Abbey (2009, July 2).Search Marketing. Advertising Age; Vol. 80 Issue 37, p16-17.
Retrieved November 17,2010, from Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost.
Klassen, Abbey & Learmonth, Michael (2009, July 1). The big Bing theory: Help users decide
instead of search. Advertising Age; Vol. 80 Issue 20, p44-44. Retrieved November 17,2010,
from Academic Search Complete EBSCOhost
Microsoft Advertising. (2010). Microsoft Advertising. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from
http://advertising.microsoft.com/search-advertising/bing
Now Sourcing. (2009, July 2). Social Media Marketing Explained. Retrieved November 17,
2010, from http://nowsourcing.com/2009/07/02/should-i-advertise-on-bing/
Search Engine Land (2010, June 10). The Left Brain of Paid Search Ads: Parameters and
Limitations. Retrieved November 17,2010, from http://searchengineland.com/
Top search engines in July 2009 based on U.S. market share
GOOGLE
YAHOO
BING
AOL
64.8%
17.1%
9.0%
3.1%
ASK.COM
1.7%
OTHER
4.3%
(search marketing)