So “bing” is Microsoft’s new search engine.
The layout is new and the results are really quite different. There will be a learning curve for advertisers as we all adapt to the new paradigm. However – here are a few things that you Microsoft Advertisers should take note of, now that bing has been up and running for a few weeks.
Review your Ad Group Structures:
One of the interesting developments in bing is their ability to suggest related searches and quickly move the user from a generic query to something more appropriate. There is a real opportunity to better target adverts and keywords here. For example, I typed in “Nokia Camera” and found several phone companies bidding on the word “Nokia”. Even before bing, “Nokia” may have been just a little TOO generic for , most of us, but the generic word is an excellent way to see how you should mould your advert and campaign structure. The related searches in the left hand column seem to correlate to different products or areas and therefore offer really good suggestions for structuring your campaign. If your ad groups do not reflect those related searches from the most generic of keywords, then I suspect that there is room to improve your contextual targeting.
(If you are reading this from a country where the “related search” feature has not yet been rolled out, then you can still achieve similar results by using the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence keyword research tool which is an excel plug-in.)
New Insights into International Campaigns:
What you see in the UK is not what you see in the United States! The differences can be more than cosmetic. Here are is the left hand column for suggestions from the UK engine results vs the US engine results for the phrase “Primera” (UK on the left, US on the right):
(UK on the left, US on the right)
Now the average user in the UK cannot generate the right hand column results. It is only because our company has servers based in various countries so we are able to GENUINELY see what a local person sees, that we can see the differences (These are called “proxy servers”). It would appear that in the United States, Nissan don’t use the word “Primera”. In the UK, Nissan is the number one association with the term.
If you are setting up campaigns to run in multiple countries, your research could be better if you do use proxy servers for your keyword research – particularly with regard to setting up your ad-group structures.
Start checking your budgets – There May Have Been a Spike in Demand
Bing is not a “soft launch”. At least – not in the United States. From what I understand, Bing is launching with the full bells and whistles expected from such a large company launching a new brand. That will involve engaging users, developing brand loyalty, television advertising and not doubt much, much more. We – as advertisers – have been used to saying Microsoft’s quality of paid search traffic has been second to none, but we just wish there was more of it.
With the launch of the new brand, Microsoft will be hoping to make some headway into addressing this. If your budget across all your networks have “got into a groove” then you might find that you have inadvertently capped your budgets on some great traffic.
Until next time…
Dixon
Dixon Jones is managing director at Internet Marketing Agency Receptional in the UK