Yahoo Bing Network: New Details on Searchers Not Using Google

Full Disclosure: I work for Bing Ads as an Evangelist. This means I am constantly bombarded with fantastic information I think we should share instead of keeping locked up. What follows is some of that great information.

We all know audience is important, but exactly how important, is often overlooked in search marketing. The audience of each search engine can impact the searches being done and the ROI of your campaigns, especially for specific industries.

For example, did you know that 73 percent of the searchers on Bing and Yahoo in the Travel category are exclusive, which means you can only find these U.S. travel searchers on the Yahoo Bing Network – not on Google.

The difference in audience drives performance and provides opportunity.

A Distinct Audience When Compared to Google

“Our advertisers and partners often tell us that Bing Ads converts better and has lower CPCs, and we know that our audience drives that performance," said Shawn Mohamed, Group Manager of Bing Ads Market Intelligence. "What our advertisers often don't think about and what makes us different, is our significant, distinct audience of 47 million unique searchers in the U.S. whom you can only find on Bing and Yahoo Search, not on Google. It's not just that we are different, it matters how we're different.”

That's not necessarily news, but comScore data also reveals the number of unique searchers by industry category. As mentioned, 73 percent of the searchers on Bing and Yahoo search in the travel category are exclusive, which means you can only find these 12 million U.S. travel searchers on the Yahoo Bing Network.

What about other categories? According to comScore, the exclusive audience reaches across other industries, including:

82 percent of Telecom76 percent of Automotive70 percent of Business/Finance58 percent of Education46 percent of Retail

The number or users in the chart below highlights the potential audience reach you're missing when not advertising with Bing Ads and also helps to explain why advertisers often see increased ROI for campaigns in these industries.

The search marketing data from comScore reveals that even though searchers can switch between search engines, they typically stick with the same search engine to complete that specific task.

“A major myth is that most consumers use multiple search engines in their decision journey in an effort find the right answer to complete a specific task," Mohamed said. "Sounds reasonable. The reality is, that's not the case.”

Comparing the Audience 'Buying Power'

Exclusive audience reach gives insight into missed opportunity, but what about comparing value of searchers across the networks?

A quick look into the Audience Buying Power Index (source: comScore Core Search custom, December 2012) between search audiences is also telling:

As a whole, 153 million US searchers on the Yahoo Bing Network spend 8 percent more than Google searchersThe exclusive audience of 47 million unique searchers in the US exclusive to Bing and Yahoo! Search spend 30 percent more than the average Google searcherBottom Line

The right audience can drive higher ROI. Now that you know more about the Bing and Yahoo search audience, you can have a more informed conversation about what audience you're missing, or a more interesting conversation around driving better ROI.

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