Bing outperforms Google AdWords: iProspect report

While the year-on-year cost of advertising with Microsoft Bing has risen, the click-through rate (CTR) has dramatically improved, to the benefit of advertisers.

That findings is one of many in the Q4 2017 Paid Search Trends report by iProspect. Based on a study of more than 2,500 Google AdWords and Bing Ads accounts, the report offers important insights into emerging paid search trends as well as opportunities that advertisers can explore in 2018.

Per the report, the cost per click (CPC) with Bing rose by 29% year on year, while its CTR improved to be 57% higher than Google's. The average position of Bing ads on the main search page also improved, which adds to efficacy in driving traffic.

This has been attributed to Bing's Shopping platform being smaller than Google's, wherein Bing's CTR would be similar to Google's in the absence of Shopping from the comparison equation.

In 2017, Bing's CPC was 74% higher than that of Google AdWords, a difference that is relatively well known among paid search planners. An increase in price resulted in a reduction of spend and consumption of mobile clicks in the fourth quarter of 2017, with the report adding that the "Amazon Effect" has shifted ad budgets meant for driving sales to the world's largest e-commerce company.

While advertisers spent 17% more on mobile advertising in 2017 compared to 2016, their efforts resulted in less traffic than anticipated.

The report concludes by predicting that in 2018, paid search will rely on advances in machine learning aimed at helping advertisers improve campaign performance, while audience targeting solutions will improve tremendously due to the focus on structured data.

Google declined to comment.