GoogleAdWords vs. Bing Ads: Is Advertising on Secondary Search Engines Worth It?

There's no question that advertising on Google is well worth your while. With the right keywords and a strong ad, you can generate traffic, leads, or achieve whatever conversion goals you've determined make sense for your business.

Of course, some advertising verticals are more competitive than others, with some keywords costing $30, $50, or even $80 per click! Sometimes the profitability of a lead is so great the costs are worth it; however, there are business owners and digital marketers who will ask whether there is a more cost-effective way to generate leads.

One idea is to use secondary search engines. Before you scoff at the thought of putting an advertisement on Bing, Yahoo!, or AOL (after all, who would see it?), consider this: Google, while certainly the undisputed leader in search market share, actually only controls about 64% of the market.

So, who controls the rest?

Bing is by far the largest competitor to Google, holding about 21% of the market, with Yahoo! holding 12% and rounding out the real players in the industry. It's worth nothing that Google lost the deal for AOL searches to Bing, but with AOL accounting for only 1% of the market, this isn't that big of a deal.

Bing offers better prices

One of the most compelling reasons to use a secondary search engine like Bing to advertise is that the cost per click (CPC) tends to be lower than it would be on Google AdWords. While this is not always the case, more often than not you can get more "bang for your buck" with Bing than you can with Google—and often significantly more.

Here is an example of a CPC query for a search term on Google, and then another on Bing.

https://i.imgur.com/wKZCcpI.png

https://i.imgur.com/XxMBbJw.png

As you can see, a Google ad for this particular term costs between three and four times what it would cost on Bing. Of course, Google also gets three times the traffic for this keyword—something that's important to keep in mind.

Better prices mean a lower customer acquisition cost, which also means you have more room to play around with different strategies within otherwise equal budget constraints. Of course, there's a reason for Bing's better prices.

Bing has way less traffic

It is worth reiterating that Bing has significantly less traffic than Google. This means that you will be limited by what can be accomplished in a short period of time, due to the constraints of Bing's traffic, and if you are targeting a specific demographic or geographic location (as you should be). In fact, in certain areas like Dubai, Google AdWords is mostly used for pay-for-clicks (PPC).

It's also worth noting that Google users tend to be more tech-savvy, which means they'll be more receptive to internet-based pitches. This isn't a slight against Bing users, but the fact is Bing is frequently used as a search engine because it is the default search engine on Microsoft products, which dominate the PC world. This means that Bing users sometimes don't even realize which search engine they are using.

Bing has more advertising real estate—a mixed blessing

Finally, it's important to note that Bing tends to have significantly more of its search results taken up by advertisements. This is partially the reason why ads are less expensive on Bing—there are so many more places to put them!

Having lots of ads is a mixed blessing. On one hand, having a page that is almost completely filled with ads (before scrolling down) increases the likelihood that a user will select one of the ads. On the other hand, a page full of ads can negatively impact the user experience, particularly if it means that search results are less relevant on average overall for users.

Notice the difference between a Google SERP and a Bing SERP:

https://i.imgur.com/3wtorN6.png

The Google SERP certainly has some ads. The first result is an ad, as well as the top slideshow, and all the results after the first ad are organic results. Beyond that, most of the ads (the slider) are high-quality images that someone searching this term would likely be interested in clicking; visuals add to the page.

https://i.imgur.com/hId7S7m.png

In contrast, the Bing SERP is nearly all ads. The sidebar, which takes up more space than a Google sidebar, is full of ads—though the images have the same value that they have on Google. Beyond that, however, the first four results are advertisements, and you can only see a few organic results at the end. While Bing users might not mind this too much, it does make it much more difficult to get a click on your ad.

Ultimately, a mixed approach is best when using search engine ads. Google is indisputably the leader, and so it makes sense to go where the traffic is. On the other hand, secondary search engines like Bing can offer unique opportunities and value that would otherwise be missed. Try both out to determine what's best for you.