Podcast Summary: Bing – Why Should Marketers Care?

Podcast: The Digital Marketing Podcast
Hosts: Ciaran Rogers and Daniel Rowles
Guest: Simon Jacobson, UK Segment Lead, Bing Ads
Date: May 26, 2016

Overview

This episode explores why marketers should care about Bing as a search and advertising platform. With insights from Simon Jacobson, UK Segment Lead at Bing Ads, listeners are taken through Bing’s surging relevance, its integration into everyday digital ecosystems, advertising opportunities, and actionable advice for those considering or underusing Bing as part of their digital marketing strategy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bing’s Growth and Relevance

[01:19]

• Simon details Bing’s evolution and its surprising current UK search market share of 18.1%.
• The growth is largely attributed to Windows 10, where Bing is a core component driving integrated search behavior.
• Bing is seeing “double digit growth across Europe percentage wise in usage of Bing” ([01:19], Simon).

2. Integration Beyond Bing.com

[03:25]

• Bing’s reach extends far beyond its native search engine:
  • Embedded throughout Windows 10
  • Powers Microsoft Office search experiences and Cortana voice assistant
  • Propels Xbox voice search

[05:06]

• Apple Ecosystem:
  • Bing provides web search results for Siri and Spotlight Search on iOS.
  • Simon describes this as a “mouth opening point” for many marketers.
• Amazon Kindles:
  • Bing is the default search engine
• Bing enriches its results with data from partners like Yelp, Twitter, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor.
• Further integrations: Uber uses Bing’s mapping technology.

“It’s not about how we manufacture the journey for a user, it’s about how we fit into their lives.” ([05:06], Simon)

3. Advertising on Bing

[06:46]

• Focus on supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)
• Positive stories about ROI, with many advertisers seeing better cost-per-click and conversion results than other platforms.
• Bing Shopping: A newly developed product, moving out of beta and seeing “really positive stories around results.” ([06:46], Simon)
• Rising importance of voice search and conversational queries:
  • “We’re seeing a 60% increase in question phrases...who, how, when, where.” ([06:46], Simon)

4. Voice Search & The Humanization of Search

[08:19]

• Over half of search traffic now comes from mobile; voice search is a natural evolution.
• According to Comscore, by 2020, up to 50% of searches may be powered by voice ([09:27], Simon).

“We’re talking really here about the humanization of search rather than...just that destination search experience.” ([09:27], Simon)

5. Practical Advice for Marketers

[12:10]

• Bing offers personal onboarding and support, especially for new or curious advertisers.
• The importance of persistent experimentation and being open to results that contrast with industry assumptions.

“If you want to test Bing ads, then we’re happy to support you on that journey.” ([12:19], Simon)

[13:13]

• Ciaran’s anecdotal commentary:
  • Bing is his “secret sauce,” often yielding higher click-through, conversion rates, and ROI than larger competitors—especially in ecommerce.
  • Encourages listeners to “invest a bit more of your search budget into Bing.”

6. Understanding Bing’s Audience

[14:18]

• Bing reaches unique audiences that may not overlap significantly with other platforms.
• Bing provides demographic and performance insights through a recently launched Insights portal.
• Case studies available highlighting Bing’s successes relative to other advertising platforms.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “A lot of people say, wow, I thought you were 5%...The growth catalyst really has been the launch of Windows 10.”
  — Simon Jacobson ([01:19])

• “Bing actually powers the web results for Siri on iOS devices and also spotlight search, which is quite surprising.”
  — Simon Jacobson ([05:06])

• “We’re seeing a 60% increase in question phrases. That really excites me.”
  — Simon Jacobson ([06:46])

• “By 2020 that 50% of searches will be voice powered.”
  — Simon Jacobson referencing Comscore ([09:27])

• “Bing is an option. It might not work for an advertiser, but what we've seen is advertisers really buy into the quality of product and service that we have.”
  — Simon Jacobson ([14:18])

• “It’s always been a bit of a secret sauce of mine...the click through rate and the conversion rate and the return per conversion...has always been way, way over indexing...”
  — Ciaran Rogers ([13:13])

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |:---------:|:-------------| | [01:19] | Why marketers should care: Bing’s growth and Windows 10 integration | | [03:25] | Bing’s integrated experiences: Windows, Office, Xbox, Cortana | | [05:06] | Bing as the web search provider for Siri and deep Apple/partner ecosystem | | [06:46] | Advertising opportunities, Bing Shopping, and focus on voice search | | [09:27] | Voice search revolution and changing user behaviors | | [12:10] | Bing onboarding and marketer support | | [13:13] | Ciaran’s endorsement of Bing for ROI and conversion rates | | [14:18] | Bing’s unique audience and Insights portal |

Resources & Further Information

• Contact Bing UK Sales:
  Email: Bing4Success@microsoft.com ([16:16], Simon)
• Bing Ads Insights Portal:
  Newly launched, offering deep audience and performance data ([14:18])
• Requests for Brighton SEO slides or more info:
  Contact Simon via LinkedIn/Twitter as offered ([16:57])

Final Thoughts

Simon Jacobson and the hosts paint a compelling portrait of Bing as not just an alternative, but a complementary and continuously innovating force in the digital marketing landscape. They urge marketers to move past outdated perceptions, experiment with Bing’s tools and advertising products, and leverage Bing’s unique audience—especially as search behaviors shift towards voice and integration in daily life.

“Go where the unique audiences are, and see if it works for you.” ([14:18], Simon & Ciaran)