Bing Ads: “Our Commitment To The Search Alliance Remains Unwavering”

Perhaps in response to reports that Yahoo is unhappy with its search deal with Microsoft and looking for a way out, David Pann, GM, Microsoft Advertising Search Group, has written a post on the Bing Ads blog ahead of  “state of the state” meetings with clients in Europe that aims to reassure advertisers that the relationship is sound and the partnership is making progress.

In his post, Pann writes,

We are pleased with our partnership with Yahoo! and very encouraged by the momentum we are seeing in terms of revenue per thousand searches (RPM), ad relevance and the growth trajectory of Bing Ads.

Among the recent search alliance highlights Pann points out are the 1,000 plus platform updates to Bing Ads, the expansion of Bing Ads into 15 new markets last year and another 13 this year, including New Zealand and Australia and a 25% increase in click volume year-over-year. Also noted are the new ad formats – Long Ad Titles, Sitelink Extensions and Local Ad Extensions – that Pann states are “each contributing double digit RPM improvements”.

First quarter reports this year from several agencies, including both RKG and The Search Agency, showed increased advertiser spending on Bing Ads. RKG reported a 53 percent increase in client spending on Bing Ads year-over-year increase, and The Search Agency saw a 42 percent rise in Bing Ads spending.

Still, despite these improvements, Microsoft has never been able to meet the revenue per search goals promised to Yahoo when they formed the Search Alliance in 2009, the terms of which Yahoo just extended last month. Of Yahoo’s Search Alliance extension, Pann writes, it “will further stabilize our partnership and instill confidence in the continued success and growth of the Yahoo! Bing Network. From the beginning, we have remained committed to providing advertisers a viable alternative to Google in the search market.”

Among other updates, Bing Ads plans to launch Product Ads in the U.S. this summer, modeled on Google’s successful roll-out of Product Listing Ads.