Microsoft Bing Brings Down MSN Advertisers
January 15th, 2010 Posted in SEOBing is Microsoft’s new Web search engine, replacing old engine, Live Search. This “decision engine”, as Microsoft termed it, was officially launched on June 3, 2009. Through the creation of Bing, Microsoft hoped to create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and consumer choice; however, the new search engine threatens a much-used system of advertising, and advertisers are not happy about it.
“Microsoft hoped to create more innovation in search, but advertisers aren’t happy.”
The Importance of PPC for Advertisers
Bing is causing trouble for many advertisers who have always relied on the traffic generated by PPC (pay per click) ads on MSN. PPC is an internet advertising system used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market.
It turns out, MSN made some drastic changes when launching Bing from the old Live.com that could have disastrous effects on advertisers and the PPC system.
Bing’s Fight Against Search Overload
The advertisements promoting Bing claim that the search engine does a better job counteracting “search overload,” offering higher quality results that are more relevent to the search–allowing you to find the information you’re seeking faster. The term “Search overload” aptly refers to the vast amounts of inconsequential information we receive when searching a particular topic through a search engine.
To the severe vexation of PPC advertisers, Bing has taken its fight against “search overload” to a new level. If the “organic listings”, the search engine listings that appear because of their significance to the searched terms, are more relevant to the search than the paid listings, then no advertisements will appear–hence, no clicking takes place. This greatly limits the marketing that advertisers enjoy from the PPC system.
“Bing has taken its fight against “search overload” to a new level.”
Bing’s Decline
Advertisers on MSN are not the only ones suffering from this new search engine. Natural Search, a blog specializing in search engine optimization (SEO), the system of increasing the volume of traffic to a website from search engines, found that MSN’s search tool has suffered a dramatic drop in searches–up to 40%–since the launching of Bing.
This drop may be explained by certain characteristics of Bing. For instance, the search engine displays only the first five organic listings on the first page–more listings appear on consecutive pages that searchers rarely view.
This lack of Bing traffic further affects the advertisement’s success; as few people visit the search engine, advertisements will enjoy fewer clicks.
Contrary to Microsoft’s hopes, most people still use Google to meet their search engine needs. In October 2009, Bing’s “search share,” the market share for its browser, was 9.9%, and has been steadily dropping since. In contrast, Google’s market share reaches above 70%, making it the most widely used search engine in the United States.
| By Bryn Dehmcke
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