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Google Vs Microsoft Ad Types: What You Need To Know
Advertising on the internet has become as important, if not more so, than every other form of advertising. Within the online advertising industry, there are two Titans: Microsoft Ads vs Google Ads.
Contrary to some opinions, these two advertising methods are not interchangeable. Each has its strengths, weaknesses, and ideal environment.
That matters because across all industries, if you want to get to your potential customers, advertising on the internet is one of the most effective methods of getting your message out. Because they are the major players, understanding Google Ad types and Microsoft Ad types and how to use them can save you money while increasing your response rate.
Table of Contents
Microsoft Ads Explained
Microsoft Ads are Microsoft’s proprietary advertising format on the Microsoft Audience Network. That includes both Bing and Yahoo. Microsoft’s menu of ad types is expansive and attempts to cover the entire online experience. These are the available Microsoft Ad types:
- Dynamic search ads
- Expanded Text Ads
- Multimedia Ads
- App Install Ads
- Microsoft Audience Ads
- Microsoft Advertising in Bing Smart Search
- Responsive search ads
- Product ads
- Vertical ads
Using several advertising mediums within the Microsoft family is called an “ad campaign.” Advertisers can use one or many of these ad types to reach their potential customers. Within each campaign, one or more keywords get included. Most ad campaigns use more than one type of advertising to reach the target audience.
In addition, the Microsoft Ads platform allows for precise targeting of an audience. Targeted audiences mean the advertiser can select from that list the type of advertising medium that suits their potential customers most effectively.
Microsoft Ads’ Objective
Microsoft ads aim to allow the advertiser to be as specific or as general as they want to be with their advertising.
Microsoft Ads’ Advantages
The main advantage of Microsoft Ads is that targeting audiences can contact potential customers more likely to respond to an advertisement. Another advantage is that by targeting audiences, advertisers are not wasting advertisements on audiences that will not respond.
Google Ads Explained
Google Ads used to be known as Google Adwords. Like Microsoft Ads, Google Ads works with proprietary and collaborative Search Partners or within the Google Display Network. The goal of Google Ad types is to move customers directly to your store.
All Google Ads are driven by the Google Search Network, which utilizes optimized keywords to match potential customers with content.
Google Ads are effective because Google is the behemoth of search engines. The Google search engine generates over 200 million views and over 3 billion activities daily. How Google Ads works is that the customer matches keywords to their typical searcher (potential customer) and tailors an advertisement using those keywords.
A merchant bids on the keywords against their competition, and when they secure the use of the word, it is incorporated into an advertisement. The keywords ensure that the advertisement will appear on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP.) A higher SERP ranking increases the likelihood a potential customer will see the advertisement. After that, the product or topic must sell itself.
Google Ads’ Objective
The point of Google Ads is to generate more clicks to your website, app, or other online feature. More clicks, in turn, will lead to more customers via market saturation. The premise is that the more a product or service gets in front of customers, the more customers are likely to make a purchase.
Advantages of Google Ads
With Google Ads, the key advantage is that advertisers can tailor their advertising to their budget. It is driven by how much an advertiser indicates they want to spend. When that limit has gets reached monthly, the advertiser can increase the allotment or hold the spending where it is. Managing limits gives the merchant or advertiser complete control of Google Ads expenditures.
Another advantage is that an advertiser’s advertisement will appear on Google Maps and search queries. More exposure expands the potential market exposure of one ad merely by that ad existing in the Google Network.
Very few customers will only find one advertising method effective. Most will find that their customer base is diverse and would be responsive in both environments if the advertisement gets presented properly.
Key Differences Between Google vs Microsoft Ad Types
Microsoft allows for more precise targeting of audience blocks, including dialing your advertising down to demographic, geolocation, and type of device used by potential customers. A downside to Microsoft Ads is the scope of the advertising is limited to Microsoft users.
For example, Microsoft ads potentially go to all Bing users, while Google Ads go to all Google search users. The vast majority of Bing users are in the USA. Google has the potential to reach virtually anyone with online access.
Greater reach means Google has an inherently larger universe of users because Google has a search engine that is more widely used. While advertisements can be more targeted using Microsoft Ads, more people get “touched” using Google.
Is One Better Than The Other?
Neither is “better” in a general advertising sense. A bad advertisement will not garner clicks, for instance, no matter what format is used. To generate a higher response, advertisers must put thought into their presentation, keywords, and message.
Google has a broader reach, while Microsoft allows for more precise targeting. Each, in its own way, creates an environment that could yield a higher response rate.
Do Not Restrict Yourself
What the advantages of Google Ads and Microsoft Ads mean is that every user of Google Ad types or Microsoft Ad types should mix and match, depending on their product and service offers. Very few customers will only find one advertising method effective. Most will find that their customer base is diverse and would be responsive in both environments if the advertisement gets presented properly.
For example, if your target audience is “rock collectors,” your best bet would be to advertise using the Google Ads platform. If, however, your target audience was “Male laptop users on the West Coast between the ages of 50 and 69 that collect rocks,” the Microsoft platform would likely yield better results.
It is important to note that Google will touch the same users as Microsoft, but the targeted message will more likely appeal to specific users via the Microsoft platform. The best way of looking at this is the broad strokes versus narrow strokes analogy. Broad strokes will envelop narrower strokes, but narrower strokes are more precise.
To Conclude
The Google vs Microsoft Ad types comparison is an assessment of two completely different forms of advertising. Both Google Ad types and Microsoft Ad Types have their own ideal advertising environment. Neither should be looked at from an advertiser’s perspective as competing, even though both companies are competitors.
The correct way to view both ad mechanisms is that they are most effective when used in tandem. By employing both at the same time, an advertiser vastly increases its reach both with known potential target audiences and with new audiences.
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