What are the differences between Google Ads and Bing Ads?

If you’re wondering about the key differences between Google and Bing Ads, you’re far from alone. After all, the concept behind the two platforms is identical. Both offer pay-per-click advertising (what is Pay Per Click) aimed at helping businesses to reach particular audiences, boost traffic and enhance revenue.

That said, each of the two has its own benefits and features, setting it apart from its competitor. Let’s take a quick look at each in turn.

Google Ads

Google Ads is actually made up of two advertising networks. These include the search network, which allows advertisers to devise text ads to show up on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Meanwhile, the display network shows display ads on a large number of websites all over the internet.

Bing Ads

Microsoft-owned Bing has three search engines – Yahoo, Bing and AOL – so you will be seen on all of these when advertising through its platform. Therefore your campaigns are visible across all sites owned and operated by Yahoo, Bing and AOL, plus several partner sites.

How the features of both platforms compare

• While Bing showcases its display URLs using bold formatting, Google does not
• Both platforms allow 80 characters for ads in a single description field
• While the traffic volume for keywords is far lower with Bing, both platforms offer keywords research tools, along with broad match and negative keyword targeting
• When it comes to Click-Through Rate (CTR), MSN and Yahoo both offer financial reporting, and ads on Bing often receive better engagement and have stronger CTRs when it comes to shopping and financial services

Although advertisers consider Google and Bing as competitors, they can nonetheless complement each other. So while Google definitely has most of the search market sewn up, don’t forget Bing. It now has more than a third of the global desktop search engine market share, after all. By using it, you will reach millions of prospective customers that you wouldn’t perhaps have been able to find via Google.

What’s more, given that Bing offers higher positioning and much less competition for advertisers bidding, clicks become cheaper, so you get more bang for your buck. Indeed, the average cost-per-click via Bing Ads can be up to 70% less compared with Google Ads.

So, rather than thinking of it as a case of one or the other, think of Google and Bing as two things which can go hand in hand. Talk to your digital marketing agency about running effective campaigns on both Bing and Google, and how these could have a big impact on your organisation. By using both platforms, any current gaps in your online presence will be covered.

If you’d like to start a Bing campaign or learn more about PPC then contact Front Page Advantage and we’ll gladly have a chat. Or check out our PPC packages.