Bing Previews Plans For Local, Mobile Ad Options

At a time when competitor Google is focusing intensely on mobile and local, Microsoft’s Bing is sharing plans for ad products that would go toward evening the score between the two biggest search players in the U.S.

The company will introduce radius targeting for search ads, allowing advertisers to choose a specific five to 100 mile radius around an address. This will be available in all adCenter markets in “the coming months,” according to a blog post by Dennis Glavin, the group product manager and lead on local search advertising for Microsoft. Google already offers similar targeting capabilities in AdWords.

Additionally, Bing will ad local search ad attributes (known at Google as extensions) that let advertisers add a merchant’s address or phone number to their ad. These will be served to queries identified as local, and within ads, both on the PC and on mobile devices. The new attributes feature will begin being rolled out in adCenter in the second half of the year, the company said.

Image via Microsoft

Just last month, Bing launched its Business Portal for local merchants, which lets them claim and enhance listings with additional information, including deals.

About The Author

Pamela Parker

Pamela Parker is Research Director at Third Door Media's Content Studio, where she produces Martech Intelligence Reports and other in-depth content for digital marketers in conjunction with Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, MarTech Today and Digital Marketing Depot. Prior to taking on this role at TDM, she served as Content Manager, Senior Editor and Executive Features Editor. Parker is a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since its beginning. She's a former managing editor of ClickZ and has also worked on the business side helping independent publishers monetize their sites at Federated Media Publishing. Parker earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.