Excitement about the launch of Bing is growing, and we’ve heard quite a few questions from folks about the impact of the new decision engine on advertiser campaigns. So, we thought a post with a few FAQs about what you can expect from Bing was in order. Here are a few of the top questions we’ve heard. If you have more questions about your ads in relation to Bing, please let us know in the comments or in the adCenter Advertiser forum. For questions and comments about Bing, please visit the Bing feedback form or the Bing Community site.

Q: What will happen to Live.com?
A: The Live.com URL will redirect to Bing.com for 45 days after launch. After this period it becomes the front door for all Live services including Office Live and Windows Live.

Q. Will there be any new ad units on the SERP aside from adCenter served text ads?

A. At this time, there will be no new ad units on the SERP. Advertisers can continue to buy keywords in the familiar adCenter environment.

Q:  Are you planning to change how advertisers buy keywords to align with the new presentation of results?
A: Advertisers will continue to buy keywords in the familiar adCenter environment. The new presentation of results will have no impact to the way they purchase keywords.

Q. What are the changes to the algorithm (if any)?

A. We have made numerous improvements to our algorithm, focusing on spelling, freshness of results, and core ranking.  Our algorithm is changing continuously to provide the best results. Although we have a six month release cycle for major updates, our algorithm is refined everyday to improve the relevance of our results and to better address our users’ intent.

Q. Are there fewer ads?  Or will there be an increase in advertising placements (in the top and right rail)?

A. Ad slot availability will not change as compared to Live Search.

Q. How much additional volume will I get from Bing with the new features?

A.  It is difficult to predict additional volume, but, we expect that the Bing outreach campaign will help raise awareness of the problems with search overload today. We think once users try Bing, they will enjoy the experience and hopefully keep coming back, especially when they have decision to make in our key focus areas of shopping, travel, health and local. We certainly hope that leads to an increase in share over time.

Q. What is the inherent benefit to advertisers with this launch?

A.  Advertisers can target relevant and compelling ads to a potentially growing, high quality audience that uses Bing to make decisions, particularly decisions related to shopping, health and travel.

Q. When do mainline ads show?

A. All existing mainline rules apply to SERP results – there are no changes because of Bing.

Q. How will Bing impact where/how my ads show on the SERP? Will ads appear as they did before?  If not, how?

A. Ads will continue to appear in the mainline and right rail just as they did before.

Q. Will I have to change my action tags as a result of the product changes?

A. No, there is no need to change your action tags as a result of Bing.