Understanding How Bing Ads Work

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How do keywords trigger ads?

Keywords are the words or phrases that you want to associate with your advertisements, allowing potential customers searching the web to find your ads. For example, Paul is the owner of Contoso Bistro. Since he wants to increase his takeout lunch business, he uses "takeout lunch" as his ad keyword. When someone searches for "takeout lunch," his ad will appear on the Bing Ads search results page.

You can choose how closely the words or phrases customers search for match your keywords. You can use exact match, where your ad will only display when the search query exactly matches the keyword. By using exact match, you can target a specific audience because the keyword targeting is more precise. If Paul chooses "takeout lunch" as an exact match keyword, the search query must also be "takeout lunch."

On the other hand, you can also use broad match, meaning that even if customers search for variations related to your keyword, the system will still display the ad. Using broad match allows your ad to reach a wider audience without spending a lot of time building a keyword list. Therefore, if Paul decides to use broad match for his ad campaign, the keyword "takeout lunch" could be triggered by a search query like "lunch delivery."

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Where do ads appear?

Now that you understand what can trigger ads and where ads can appear, let’s quickly go over ad ranking. When customers search on Bing, AOL, or Yahoo, bidding determines which ads are displayed and where they appear on the search results page. This ad placement is known as ad ranking and refers to where your ad appears on the Bing, AOL, or Yahoo search results page: at the top of search results, on the side of the page, or at the bottom. Ideally, the higher up the page the ad appears, the better chance it has of being seen by customers.

Ad ranking is determined by various factors:

• The amount you bid for your keyword.
• The competitive bid amounts for that keyword.
• The relevance of your ad.
• The performance of your ad.

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How much does it cost?

The amount you spend depends on you. You need to decide the bid amount for your keywords, which is how much you want to pay for each ad click. Then, each time someone searches on Bing and Yahoo, bidding determines which ads are displayed and where they appear on the search results page. Charges only apply when someone clicks on your ad if it meets the eligibility criteria and appears on the search results page.

The actual cost-per-click (CPC) is the maximum amount you set for your bid and will never exceed that amount. You can either prepay or defer payment for these costs. If you prepay for clicks, we will deduct fees from the advertising amount you have deposited in your account. If your funds are insufficient, we will suspend your account until you add more funds. If you choose to defer payment, charges will accumulate when someone clicks on your ad. You must then pay on your monthly billing date or when you reach your billing credit limit (the system will charge you automatically when this spending limit is reached), whichever occurs first.