5 Recent Updates from Bing Ads You Need to Know About

The paid search world has seen a lot of changes in the last six months, from Google’s mobile-preferred algorithm, to the revised terms between Yahoo and Bing. Today, we’re going to drill down into a few top updates on what’s been going on at Bing Ads over the last few months.

1. Bing Hits 20 Percent in the U.S.

In April comScore announced that Bing reached 20 percent, search market share on desktop in the United States for the first time. Six years ago, Bing’s search market share was just 8 percent.

Microsoft has also boasted about the integration of Cortana (powered by Bing) on the Windows 10 desktop. Laying the groundwork for more volume for Bing as Windows 10 launches July 29, 2015.

2. Setting the Stage for Remarketing in Paid Search

Universal Event Tracking, launched in late 2014, sets the stage for future search remarketing capabilities with Bing Ads (currently in pilot). UET replaced the conversion tracking functionality offered in Campaign Analytics and follows last-click attribution for assigning conversions.

Universal Event Tracking:

• Supports four different goals as the foundation for audience remarketing: Destination, Duration, Pages/visit and Event.
• Allows cross-device tracking when Bing knows that different devices belong to the same user.
• Tells you what types of engagement (bounce rate, pages per visit, duration per visit) your keywords have on your site.
• Is the foundation for future remarketing in Bing Ads, so it’s recommended to start now.

3. Automated Rules

Automated rules launched June 1, which is sure to make advertisers happy and save time. From changing budgets, bids or even enabling holiday ad copy at midnight – automated rules will make your life easier.

4. Bing Shopping Campaigns

Who didn’t see this one coming? Bing’s Shopping Campaigns lets advertisers structure their campaigns and bids in the same way they do on Google Adwords.
Bing Shopping Campaigns give advertisers three key features:

1. Import from Google Shopping Campaigns with a single click.
2. Easier management and more control of your product ads. You can see your catalog data within the campaign UI so you can make a more informed bidding choice, and you can prioritize across campaigns with a single priority setting.
3. Deeper insight into how your product ads are performing. You can look at performance data for all your products no matter how your campaign is structured within the campaign UI, and get competitive intelligence via benchmark data to drive better optimization.

5. Campaign Planner Reveals All

Want to know which advertiser is bidding the same as you on that specific keyword? Want to see how your position stacks up against your competitors? Campaign Planner will do that for you. With the launch of Campaign Planner, Bing Ads pulled the curtain off the mystery of the competitive landscape. This is a unique tool in the Bing Ads interface that gives advertisers marketplace insights by vertical, product and keyword.

Campaign Planner also lets you look at seasonal trends with year-over-year performance, search volume location tips and device targeting. Basically this is the only playbook you really need to build strong paid search campaigns.

Other Updates to Note

• iOS App for Bing Ads. Now you can manage your Bing Ads from your smartphone. Push notifications alert you immediately if there are any issues with your campaigns.
• Home tab for customizing your actionable stuff. You can see all your accounts and the stats you want at your fingertips right on one page.
• App Extensions. Customers can download your app directly from your ad, with app extensions.
• Bulk editing for campaigns, ad groups, ads and keywords under the Edit menu. Making multiple changes is now a breeze.

That’s not everything but some of the headliners. What will the next six months at Bing Ads bring? For one, we’ll see the launch of Windows 10 and the much-touted integration of the Bing search bar on the task bar. What would you like to see?