Bing Ads is now Microsoft Advertising, and existing accounts carry on unchanged. For a small account already sound on Google, running there too can add cheaper clicks, provided the import is checked and Microsoft's own tracking tag is installed.

A new name this morning

Bing Ads has a new name as of today: Microsoft Advertising. Accounts, logins, campaigns and billing carry on exactly as they were.

For most small businesses the rename changes nothing at all, because most small businesses have never advertised there.

The more interesting question is whether they should. Plenty of small accounts spend every month on Google Ads and have never tried the other search engine, or tried it once, years ago, with an import nobody checked.

What the new name changes

The second is worth remembering when the new name causes confusion. Microsoft Advertising is the same search advertising it was last week; the name now matches the company rather than one search engine.

Who searches on Bing

Bing is the default search engine in Windows 10 and in Microsoft's own browsers, Edge and Internet Explorer. A great many people use it simply because nobody changed the setting.

That tilts its audience towards desktop computers, including office machines and home computers that have been set up the same way for years.

Google still handles most searches in Canada by a wide margin, so the audience is smaller. For a business whose customers search from a desk, it is not a small audience to ignore.

Why clicks often cost less

Prices in a search auction are set by competition. Fewer advertisers bid on Bing, because many businesses never set it up, so the same search often costs less there.

For a local business, a handful of competitors on Google can mean one or none on Bing. The volume is lower, but a modest budget can cover most of the relevant searches.

That is the case for trying it. Cheaper clicks are only worth having if they come from the right searches and lead to enquiries, which is what the setup has to prove.

Importing from Google Ads

The quickest start is the import tool, which signs in to your Google Ads account and copies campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, extensions and budgets across.

It copies their mistakes as well. Whatever was wrong in the Google account arrives intact, along with settings sized for Google's volume rather than Bing's.

The import ends with a summary of what came across and what did not. Anything Bing does not support is skipped, and the summary is where that shows.

Imports can also be scheduled to repeat. That keeps the two accounts in step, and it can also overwrite changes made on the Microsoft side unless the options are set to leave them alone.

A worked example

A two-person bookkeeping firm in a suburban office imported its Google Ads campaigns into Bing Ads last autumn and left them running.

In March, the partners looked at the account. It showed a steady trickle of clicks, a monthly bill and no conversions at all, and they were ready to switch it off.

The reason for the zero was simple. Microsoft's own conversion tag, called UET, had never been added to the website, so the account could record clicks but never an enquiry.

The daily budget had been copied from Google unchanged. And a weekly scheduled import had been quietly undoing the lower bids one partner set in the Bing account each month.

The tag went on the site with the form's thank-you page as the goal. The budget was cut to suit the smaller volume, and the scheduled import was switched off.

A question on the form now asks where people found the firm. For the first time, the account can show whether it produces enquiries at all.

What to check after the import

Budgets first, since a budget sized for Google's volume leaves room for broad keywords to wander into weaker searches.

Then location targeting, including the option that decides whether ads show to people merely interested in your area.

Then the ad text, for anything that mentions a Google offer, and the extensions, for phone numbers and links that are out of date.

Then the bids. Imported bids are Google's bids, and paying Google prices on a cheaper network gives away the reason for being there.

Its own search terms

Bing matches keywords to searches in its own way, and the searches people type there are not quite the same as on Google.

So the negative keywords built up in the Google account are a start, not a finished list. Bing's search terms report shows what actually triggered the ads, and it deserves its own monthly read.

Measuring it on its own

Microsoft's account cannot see Google's conversion tracking, and Google's cannot see Microsoft's. Each needs its own tag on the site and its own goal.

Give it three months before judging, since small accounts produce small numbers and a single month can mislead.

Compare cost per enquiry rather than cost per click. Cheap clicks that never produce an enquiry are expensive, whatever the dashboard says.

The counter-case

Not every account should add a second network now.

An account that is not yet reaching most of its relevant searches on Google, because its budget runs out early each day, will usually do better spending more there first.

A business whose customers search almost entirely on phones may find little volume on Bing. And an account with a very small budget gains little by splitting it, since neither half produces enough results to learn from.

Once the Google account is in order, though, running on Microsoft Advertising too is worth a properly checked import and its own measurement.

Before the first import

  1. Get the Google account in order first.
  2. Import only the campaigns that already work.
  3. Set a smaller budget than Google's.
  4. Install the UET tag and create a goal.
  5. Read the import summary line by line.
  6. Switch off scheduled imports until you decide.
  7. Check the search terms report after a month.

Step four is the one most imports skip. Without Microsoft's own tag on the site, the account records clicks but never an enquiry, and a campaign that cannot show results tends to get switched off.

Reading those search terms properly follows the same method as negative keywords from your own search terms report.

Frequently asked questions

What changed with Bing Ads today?

The name. Bing Ads is now Microsoft Advertising. Logins, campaigns, billing and history carry on as before, and the ads still appear on Bing and its partner sites.

Who sees ads on Bing?

People searching on Bing and its partner sites, many of them on desktop computers where Bing is the default in Windows and Microsoft's browsers. The audience is smaller than Google's.

Are clicks on Bing really cheaper?

Often, because fewer advertisers compete for the same searches. The volume is smaller too, so a modest budget can cover most of the relevant searches in a local area.

Can I copy my Google Ads campaigns across?

Yes. The import tool copies campaigns, keywords, ads, extensions and budgets. It copies their mistakes as well, so read the import summary and check every setting afterwards.

Why does the account show no conversions?

Usually because Microsoft's own conversion tag, called UET, was never installed. Google's conversion tracking does not carry over, so the account records clicks but never an enquiry.

Should a small account run on both?

Once the Google account is in order and reaching most of its relevant searches, usually yes, with a smaller budget, its own measurement and a monthly read of search terms.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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