One of Bing Ad’s huge advantages has always been the ease with which it works alongside Google Adwords, allowing existing Adwords users to import their campaigns at the click of a button.
But ever since the introduction of Google’s expanded text adverts there has been a jarring disconnect, with users having to juggle two different ad formats and Bing’s limited text capabilities.
Now that’s all over though, as Bing follows suite with support for the new longer text ad format.
The announcement for Bing expanded text adverts came back in June, and last week the feature was rolled out on trial to agencies around the country.
The new format allows for:
Two 30-character headlines (updated from a single 25-character title)
80-character description line (up from 71-characters.)
Automatically generated Display URLs based on the Final URL and two 15-character customizable ‘Paths’.
The changes mean that Bing can once again comfortably compete with Adwords as a leading PPC platform for businesses across the world.
And how can you capitalise on ETAs? Well for a start, resist the temptation to just add extra text on to your existing copy. Start fresh and write a whole new advert instead, including more value propositions and calls-to-action.
And don’t rush to replace your entire campaign. Just because expanded texts have more copy, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll outperform your old adverts immediately. Introduce them gradually, alongside your existing adverts, until you find what works best for your campaign.
Tidy up your advert extensions too. With all the extra copy, you might find your words make some of your existing advert extensions redundant. If they only duplicate and repeat the text in your ad copy then Google won’t serve them, meaning you’re missing out on advert opportunities.
Bing expanded text ads are currently available as a pilot to advertising agencies, with plans to roll them out to all users as quickly as possible.
Need help with Bing and Expanded Text Ads? Contact one of our team here.