Before you start rolling out your pay-per-click advertising campaign, you need to make sure you are doing it on the right platform – whether it’s Microsoft (formerly known as Bing ads), Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords), or a combination of the two.
Business owners and companies are realizing more and more the importance of online advertising.
Deciding on this important factor is key to achieving both immediate and long-standing PPC advertising success. As a business owner, where are you planning on spending your advertising budget?
Unique Advantages of PPC Platforms
When it comes to PPC advertising strategies and platforms, it’s natural to wonder what program is best: Microsoft ads or Google ads.
Naturally, these PPC platforms will have their own unique advantages. The benefits that these platforms offer can be advantageous to many businesses and organizations.
Both Microsoft ads and Google ads come with the same functionalities. However, there are core elements that distinguish them from each other. Some of the different factors include targeting options, cost, terms of audience reach, and more.
Let’s take a look at these essential differences in today’s post and what they can mean for your pay-per-click ad campaign.
Better Together?
While many digital marketers look at Microsoft and Google ads as competitors, they are better utilized together. You can undoubtedly elevate your PPC advertising strategies by using both Microsoft and Google ads platform for your business.
Without a doubt, Google has a more significant share in the market right now – and for many years. However, don’t underestimate Microsoft.
Really, smart digital marketers should not be thinking Google ads versus Microsoft ads – rather, it should be Google plus Microsoft ads.
If someone searches for “custom hardwood flooring installation in Houston,” you as the digital marketer should make sure you’re not letting any opportunities to reach potential customers pass you by.
It’s normal to be wary and think it’s not worth your time to run a similar advertising campaign on two different platforms. After all, ad campaign management can take a significant amount of time and other valuable resources.
The Differences
First, let’s take a look at the noteworthy differences these two internet advertising platforms have.
- Demographics
- Reach
- Targeting
- Demographics
- Cost
- Click-through rate
- Conversion rate
- Display URL
- Average position
The basic concept and goals of the two digital advertising platforms are the same. Both are created and designed to help business owners reach their specific target audiences, drive traffic to their website, and ultimately increase profits.
The differences lie in the detailed features and specific benefits offered by the advertising platforms. These items are what make them unique and beneficial over the other.
The Crux of the Matter
Managing a Google ads campaign will undoubtedly get you right within view of the high-intent potential customers looking for custom hardwood flooring companies in Houston (or other products/services you’re advertising).
When someone searches for something online, there’s an 80% chance that they’re most likely typing their queries into Google. However, what about that 20%?
This 20% uses other search engines such as Microsoft Bing, AOL, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo. Microsoft ads back these search engines.
And that counts for something.
Running the same type of advertising campaign on both platforms should be relatively easy. You should be able to do it in just a few clicks. You certainly should be hard-pressed to think of any new plans or strategies because the advertising concepts are the same.
Some details will certainly be different. Microsoft and the rest of the search engines will have lower volume resulting in decreased clicks, impressions, and conversions compared to Google.
In addition, there is possibly less cost-per-click and cost-per-acquisition when you use Microsoft Bing because there’s lesser search volume than Google.
Google Ads: Greater Search Volume, Higher Competition
This is a surprise to no one. When it comes to users doing online searches, Google wins over Bing – that’s almost 80% of online searches.
Google is the clear winner if you’re looking at potential reach. This high volume means you can connect with more potential customers your ads will show up for.
However, there’s a caveat.
This substantial search volume means that there are more ads yours is competing with. A significant drive in competition means it is more challenging for you to get a good cut of the impression share.
Look at it this way. The more ads you are competing with, the lesser the chances of attracting and retaining a potential user’s attention. It may even be more challenging to get your advertisement to show up in the first place.
While Google holds the place for the higher online searches, Bing’s “small” part is not that small – that’s still 11.7 billion online searches per month. That’s still an undeniably huge figure of potential customers you can reach – especially since you wouldn’t be competing as hard.
Microsoft Ads Are More Affordable than Google Ads
It’s going to be about 40% cheaper to advertise with Bing because fewer people use it than Google.
If you decide to expand your advertising dollars, it would be smart to portion some of that into Microsoft ads.
Ads Scheduling
While both Google and Bing ads’ general functionality are similar, there are chief differences in specific functions. These items are going to be essential to keep in mind for the precise requirements of your business.
One of the critical functional dissimilarities between the two PPC platforms is ad scheduling. Your ads on Bing will show up based on the location of the user seeing your ad.
On the other hand, Google will run your ads based on the location you have in your account, specifically the time zone you chose when you initially set up your account.
Display URL
Display URLs, along with the keywords, description texts, and click-through rates, are some of the basics of an internet advertising platform.
Both Google and Microsoft have the display URLs positioned under the main advertising headline.
Google Ads Have More Language Options
International conglomerates who aim to reach users worldwide need to know the languages their target audience uses. This may seem like a given – with Google, and you can set your ads to target more than 40 different languages.
Bing, on the other hand, can only be extended in 12 languages. If you are running local ads, this item naturally doesn’t concern your business.
Advertising Networks
Google Ads is comprised of two advertising networks: display network and search network.
- Display Network – the ads show as users browse the search engine results page around the Google network.
- Search Network – the online ads are visible to users when they type the target keywords on Google. The ads show on the search engine results page.
Microsoft Ads, on the other hand, has three main search engines:
- Yahoo
- Bing
- AOL
Running a Microsoft ad campaign allows your ads to show on those three search engine results pages, as well as their other partner websites.
Spend Your Advertising Dollars Wisely
Both PPC platforms offer substantial benefits. If used correctly, you can reach your target audience, ultimately generating success for your business.
However, it’s vital to be detail-oriented when setting up your PPC campaigns – whether it’s for only one platform or both. An experienced PPC specialist can set up, optimize, and manage an effective ad campaign for your business.
Furthermore, a PPC expert will be able to further elaborate on these differences and let you know how they can affect your ad campaign.
With that being said, incorporating both digital marketing platforms into your advertising planning is a fantastic way to cover all your bases.
When you use the two, you can cast a wider net when it comes to getting in front of prospective customers.
Key Takeaway on Search Engine Advertising
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer to the question, “what online advertising platform should I use?”
As we outlined above, there are noteworthy differences and similarities between Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. Each of these differences – and even similarities – could be advantageous to your business or company.
It’s not wise to forego Google Ads. You risk losing a substantial amount of search share that this leading search engine holds.
However, this notion doesn’t mean you should give up on Microsoft Ads or not consider it altogether – just because Google dominates the market.
You can always start your campaign – especially if it’s a first one – with Google advertising. As your advertising budget increases and your skills improve, you can expand your advertising reach. Dedicate a portion of your advertising dollars to Microsoft advertising.
For many search engine marketers and advertisers, the best practice is to go with Google if you have to pick just one. However, if you can, allocate some for Microsoft ads.
One of the great things about running an online advertising campaign is you can increase or decrease your ad spend as you go.
The only way to know what works best for your business is by exploring your options, trying them out, adjusting the terms, and learning. Experiment with these platforms, record your findings, and see what happens.