Entrepreneur: Search Engine Advertising Showdown – Bing vs. Google
A new combined Yahoo and Microsoft Bing pay-per-click platform may give Google AdWords a run for its money – and be a better bet for SMBs.
“If pay-per-click advertising makes sense for your business (and it does for most), then you’re probably already using Google AdWords. But chances are you’ve only dabbled with Yahoo! and Bing advertising. If that’s the case, it may be time to take a closer look at your options. The partnership between Yahoo! and Bing–announced last July–is about to become a reality this fall in the form of a combined pay-per-click platform that will give small-business advertisers an alternative to Google.
Microsoft hopes the partnership will lead to increased search volume, which in turn will attract advertisers to its ad platform. “You need a lot of advertisers to provide the most relevant advertising experience. You don’t want to show an ad for ‘Tacoma plumber’ when a visitor is searching for a plumber in Seattle. The only way to create a market to attract more advertisers is to have a product with a high volume of searchers using it,” says Matt Lydon, general manager of Microsoft advertising.”