When it comes to deciding which search engine platform to advertise on, there are a lot of factors to consider, which is why we’ve created this guide on Bing Ads vs. Google Ads.
To help you decide which paid search network you should be using, we’re going to go over the most important areas of each search engine network. From the average cost-per-click to audience reach, demographics of users, and ad restrictions, taking a deeper look at Google Ads and Bing Ads to see what you can expect and to help you make the best decision about where to spend your company’s advertising budget.
CPC Costs
When comparing Bing and Google Ads, there is an important aspect when it comes to the differences between the two, and that is the price. As a PPC advertiser, you want to get the most out of your money and budget, meaning you need to pay attention to your average cost per click. As Bing and Google are run by two different identities, it only makes sense for them to have different pricing structures.
As Google is very popular, you can imagine that Google had a higher average CPC than Bing does. According to Report Garden, Google has an average CPC of $20.08, whereas Bing is sitting a little lower at $7.99. Looking at the cost difference amount the two advertising platforms, Bing may be the more budget-friendly when it comes to CPC, however before you make a decision on which platform to advertise on, there are several other factors you should also consider, a critical factor is what is the likelihood that the clicks are going to convert.
Network Reach
It comes at no surprise that Google is the largest search engine in the world that receives millions of search queries a day. As Google Ads network includes Google’s search engine, it is also no surprise that it gets a greater amount of traffic compared to Bing Ads. Overall, Google has the majority of the market share, meaning that they have a greater reach when it comes to visitors.
Although, according to Microsoft, Bing represents more than 34% of visitors who use a search engine on a desktop. This means that about one in three people will choose to use Bing over a different search engine. In terms of the largest audience, Google is the outright winner. But, that doesn’t mean Bing isn’t worth your time. Bing has estimated that it receives over 137 million users who search roughly six billion times each month.
When looking at the overarching reach of both of these platforms, it is important to look at all of their partner sites. For example, Bing ads cover the majority of Yahoo searches and ads, as this adds their reach potential, it is important to include Yahoo’s search engine market share as well. Bing Ads also have their own network for 3rd party publishers known as the syndicated partner network, however, there is no data to know how big the network is.
As Bing has Yahoo and syndicated partner networks, Google also widens its reach within its network of 3rd party publishers known as AdSense. It is said that there are over 12 million websites that are part of their network which advertisers can advertise on.
Demographics
Demographics tend to be overlooked as a qualifying category when comparing search engine platforms, however, we are talking about two of the largest search engines there are, and there seems to be a big difference between users.
It is known that the younger demographic uses Google more frequently than any other search engine, this is helpful if you are trying to target a younger audience. Since Google has access to its own search engine but also can target this younger audience on various other websites as well, Google has been a top choice for businesses trying to reach a younger demographic. But when it comes to Bing, compared to Google, the demographics are very different.
Bing had an average user age of over 45, and the usage of genders is about 50-50. Microsoft has identified that their average audience tends to be older than Google’s average age, and have an income of around $100,000. Google may have a larger audience, but Bing pulls in users who have more buying power.
Ad Restrictions
Whether it is Google or Bing, there have always been regulations that affect what kind of ads advertisers can and can’t display. When looking at the differences in the ad restrictions, Google tends to be stricter.
Google provides a list of the different categories of ads they won’t allow and has restricted policies on, which include:
- Alcohol
- Adult content
- Copyright content
- Gambling & games
- Healthcare & medicines
- Political content
- Financial services
- Trademarks
- Legal
- Bridge pages to affiliate links
As Google Ads has its list of prohibited content, Bing Ads also provides a list of categories that users can’t display:
- Dating
- Hate speech
- Peer-to-peer file sharing
- Political and religious content
- Suffering and violence
- Sensitive advertising
- Tax collection
- Unregulated user-generated content
From looking at the lists you can see that several restrictions are similar, such as political content and adult advertising, but overall, Bing is more relaxed on what users can advertise.