• Search Engine Land
  • Sections
    • SEO
    • SEM
    • Local
    • Retail
    • Google
    • Bing
    • Social
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Follow Us
    • Follow
  • Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • Live
  • More
  • Events
    • Follow
  • SUBSCRIBE

Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • More
  • Newsletters
  • Home

Microsoft search, LinkedIn revenue growth slow for third straight quarter

Higher revenue per search couldn't offset lower volume in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2019.

Ginny Marvin on July 19, 2019 at 3:08 pm
  • More

Microsoft reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings Thursday, with revenues increasing 12% year-over-year to $33.7 billion. Yet the two sectors of the company that matter most to digital advertisers — search advertising and LinkedIn — again saw declining year-over-year growth in the final quarter of its fiscal 2019, which ended June 30.

Single-digit revenue growth for search advertising. With an increase of just 9% in the fourth quarter compared to the prior year, search advertising revenue grew slower than expected last quarter, the company’s CFO Amy Hood said during Microsoft’s earnings call Thursday evening.

Search advertising revenue increased by $184 million year-over-year, though Microsoft did not disclose what its total search revenue was for the quarter.

Hood said search advertising experienced lower volume than the company had expected and that growth was driven by higher revenue per search.

LinkedIn slowing continued. While still in the double-digits, LinkedIn revenue and session growth has been slowing for several quarters. LinkedIn sessions increased 22% year-over-year, while revenue grew by 25%.

Why we should care. Bing Ads rebranded as Microsoft Advertising at the end of April, highlighting the advertising group’s broader offerings beyond search inventory and data. Artificial intelligence and LinkedIn data for ad targeting have opened up opportunities for Microsoft Advertising to do more interesting things than simply follow in Google’s steps. Still, volume has been an issue, particularly on mobile, and is clearly one the company continues to struggle with.

Google will report its second-quarter earnings next week, but it, too, has reported slowing ad revenue growth for the past four quarters.

Microsoft’s search advertising business encompasses search ads on Bing and across the Microsoft Audience Network, which serves native ads on Outlook, MSN.com and Microsoft’s Edge browser.

Microsoft continued to note — as it has done in every quarter of its 2019 fiscal year — that LinkedIn continued to see “record levels of engagement.” LinkedIn has continued to invest in advertising capabilities and technology, including the addition of lookalike targeting, interest targeting that integrates Bing search data and more than 20 predefined business audiences for ad targeting at the end of March. At the end of May, LinkedIn announced it had entered a deal to acquire identity resolution platform Drawbridge to boost ad engagement and results for advertisers.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Ginny Marvin
Ginny Marvin is Third Door Media’s Editor-in-Chief, running the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

Related Topics

BingLinkedInMicrosoft Advertising

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Lorem ipsum doler this is promo text about SMX events.

February 23, 2021: SMX Report

April 13, 2021: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

October 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

December 17, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

Discover actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges. Our next conference will be held:

MarTech 2021: March 16-17

MarTech 2021: Sept. 14-15

MarTech 2020: Watch On-Demand

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • The State of Local Marketing Report 2020-2021
  • Quality CRM Data: The Key to Delivering Great Customer Experiences
  • How the Microsoft Search Network Can Maximize Your Search Campaigns
  • The Marketer’s Playbook for Customer Acquisition
  • How To Optimize SEO With UGC
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • How to Avoid the Digital Transformation Trap
  • How to Build a Marketing System of Record
  • Meet BIMI: The brand-boosting email security marketers must have for 2021
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

h
Receive daily search news and analysis.
Search Engine Land
Download the Search Engine Land App on iTunes Download the Search Engine Land App on Google Play

Channels

  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social

Our Events

  • SMX
  • MarTech

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • Search Marketing Expo
  • MarTech Conference

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff
  • Connect With Us

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Youtube
  • iOS App
  • Google Play

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Your privacy means the world to us. We share your personal information only when you give us explicit permission to do so, and confirm we have your permission each time. Learn more by viewing our privacy policy.Ok