Back in February, Google removed paid search ads from the right-hand side of the search engine results page (SERPs) and gave this space to their Shopping Ads.
Previously, Google’s paid search ads were always displayed in the same format with three ads above organic search results and a number of ads down the right-hand side of the page. Google’s changes now mean there are now only 2-4 paid search results at the top and bottom of the SERPs and it’s becoming far harder to compete and appear at the top of the page because there are fewer ads appearing.
Seeing as it is becoming more difficult and competitive for advertisers to compete against competitors on Google, we have been looking into alternative options for our clients to invest in and see a strong ROI.
One of the channels we are currently focusing on is Bing.
The Leapfrogg Paid Engagement Team recently attended Marin Super Users event in London, where Javed Laher, Account Director at Bing presented the latest opportunities available to us.
Currently, 1.5 billion users use the Windows operating system every day and it’s estimated that 3 out of 4 PCs is a Windows PC. As Bing is the default search engine on Windows devices, it’s estimated that it’s powering 1 in 10 searches in the UK. In addition, Cortana and Siri (personal assistants on Windows and Apple phones) are also powered by Bing. Therefore, creating or maintaining a presence on Bing is becoming increasingly important.
We’ve been running Bing campaigns for a number of our clients and have seen some very positive results so far. On average, our clients spend approximately 10% of their Google spend on Bing, however, the return on investment is much higher than that. In some cases, we have seen an ROI of over £50.00 for some of our clients and there is still room for expansion and improvements.
In the last couple of months, Bing has launched Bing Shopping Ads after being in beta for some time.
We have been taking advantage of this opportunity and have been rolling out campaigns for a number of our clients. The principle of Bing Shopping campaigns is the same as Google Shopping campaigns – the ads showcase product specific information including an image of the product, text such as brand name and a product title, pricing, and promotions and your company name.
The main advantage we see with Bing Shopping is that early adopters will see less competition and cost-per-clicks (CPCs). Bing states that CPCs are 29% lower than non-brand text ads when compared to Google. This means that with the same spend as on Google, we can expect to receive more clicks, which should result in higher Return on Investment. According to Bing, the conversion rate for Bing Shopping campaigns is 49% higher than of the non-brand text ads. As we saw with Google Shopping when first launched, this state of lower competition won’t last forever as more competitors realise the opportunity they are missing!
And finally, Bing Shopping can strengthen your acquisition strategy by getting your brand in front of more new customers, as well as supplementing the traffic that you’re already getting from Google Shopping campaigns.
We are excited about Bing developments and are looking forward to having more data to measure and compare the results and revenue.