Bing, the second most popular search engine in the world, has been steadily gaining ground on Google, the undisputed leader of the search market. According to [StatCounter], Bing’s global market share increased from 2.69% in January 2020 to 3.41% in January 2021, while Google’s market share decreased from 92.05% to 91.51% in the same period.
What is behind Bing’s growth and Google’s decline? How does Bing compare to Google in terms of features, performance, and user experience? And what does this mean for advertisers and marketers who want to reach their target audience online?
In this article, we will explore these questions and provide some insights and tips on how to leverage Bing for your paid search campaigns.
The Factors Driving Bing’s Growth and Google’s Decline
Bing’s growth and Google’s decline can be attributed to several factors, such as:
- Microsoft’s integration of Bing into its products and services: Microsoft has been using its dominant position in the software and cloud computing market to promote Bing as the default search engine for its products and services, such as Windows, Office, Edge, Cortana, Xbox, and LinkedIn. This gives Bing access to a large and loyal user base that may not bother to switch to another search engine.
- Bing’s innovation and improvement of its features and functionality: Bing has been investing heavily in improving its search technology and adding new features and functionality that enhance its user experience and differentiate it from Google. For example, Bing has introduced features such as visual search, voice search, image match, video previews, intelligent answers, timeline view, math solver, and more.
- Bing’s focus on privacy and transparency: Bing has been positioning itself as a more privacy-friendly and transparent alternative to Google, which has faced several controversies and lawsuits over its data collection and usage practices. For example, Bing has launched features such as tracking prevention, InPrivate mode, Microsoft Rewards, and Bing Rebates that give users more control and incentives over their search activity.
- Google’s antitrust issues and regulatory pressures: Google has been facing increasing scrutiny and criticism from regulators and competitors over its alleged anticompetitive practices and abuse of its market power. For example, Google has been accused of favoring its own products and services over those of its rivals in its search results, such as Google Shopping, Google Maps, Google Flights, YouTube, etc. This may erode users’ trust and satisfaction with Google and drive them to look for other options.
The Pros and Cons of Bing vs Google
Bing and Google are both powerful and sophisticated search engines that offer similar features and functionality. However, they also have some differences that may affect their performance and user experience. Here are some of the pros and cons of Bing vs Google:
- Pros of Bing:
- Bing offers more visual and interactive search results than Google, such as image sliders, video previews, carousel views, etc. This can make searching more engaging and fun for users.
- Bing provides more comprehensive and diverse information than Google for some queries, such as travel, entertainment, sports, health, etc. For example, Bing shows a timeline view for historical events, a snapshot view for celebrities, a comparison view for products, etc.
- Bing rewards users for their search activity with Microsoft Rewards points that can be redeemed for gift cards, sweepstakes entries, donations, etc. This can increase user loyalty and retention.
- Bing offers lower costs and higher click-through rates (CTRs) for advertisers than Google due to less competition and more relevant traffic. This can improve the return on investment (ROI) of paid search campaigns.
- Cons of Bing:
- Bing has a smaller market share and reach than Google globally. This means that it may not be able to capture all the potential customers that are searching online.
- Bing has less advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) capabilities than Google. This means that it may not be able to understand complex or conversational queries as well as Google or provide as accurate or relevant results.
- Bing has less frequent updates and changes than Google. This means that it may not be able to keep up with the latest trends and developments in the search industry or provide the best user experience possible.
How to Use Bing for Your Paid Search Campaigns
Bing can be a valuable addition to your paid search strategy if you want to reach a different or broader audience than Google or take advantage of lower costs and higher CTRs. However, you should also be aware of the differences between Bing and Google in terms of features, functionality, performance, user behavior, etc.
Here are some tips on how to use Bing for your paid search campaigns:
- Use the [Bing Ads Editor] tool to create and manage your campaigns on Bing easily and efficiently. You can also import your existing campaigns from Google Ads or other platforms with a few clicks.
- Use the [Bing Keyword Planner] tool to research and select the best keywords for your campaigns on Bing. You can also use the [Bing Keyword Research] tool to get more insights and suggestions on keyword trends, volume, competition, etc.
- Use the [Bing Ads Intelligence] tool to optimize your campaigns on Bing with advanced data and analytics. You can also use the [Bing Performance Grader] tool to get a free report on how well your campaigns are performing on Bing and how to improve them.
- Use the [Bing Webmaster Tools] to monitor and improve your website’s visibility and performance on Bing. You can also use the [Bing URL Submission] tool to submit your website’s URLs to Bing for faster indexing and crawling.
- Use the [Bing Network] to expand your reach and exposure on Bing and its partner sites, such as Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo, etc. You can also use the [Microsoft Audience Network] to target your ads to users across Microsoft’s properties, such as Outlook, Skype, MSN, etc.
Conclusion
Bing is a growing and evolving search engine that can challenge Google’s dominance in the search market. Bing offers some unique and innovative features and functionality that can enhance its user experience and performance. Bing also offers some advantages and opportunities for advertisers and marketers who want to optimize their paid search campaigns.
If you want to learn more about Bing and how to use it for your paid search campaigns, you can contact Wesma, a leading digital marketing agency that specializes in paid search. Wesma has a team of experts who can help you create, manage, and optimize your paid search campaigns on Bing using data-driven strategies and best practices. Contact Wesma today and get a free consultation on how to leverage Bing for your paid search success.