Bing’s $4.47 Investment in Google AdWords
June 30, 2009 by Craig Stoltz · 1 Comment
As you may have heard, our very good friends at Microsoft are spending $100 million to promote Bing.com, a new search engine.
The search engine is designed not to much to “compete with Google,” Microsoft officials swear, but to build a business around a search experience that enables consumer decisions in travel, shopping, health and local stuff.
Yeah, whatever.
In any case, it turns out that some of that $100 million promotional spend by Microsoft is going directly to… Brother Google.
Do a Google Search on “search engine.” Now, take a look at the right-hand column!
Bing.com is willing to pay Google to get traffic.
See the third item down?
Get More Info With Less Digging. A
Decision Engine Makes Search Easy!
www.Bing.com
Yes, it’s true. Microsoft’s advertising department has determined that the way to build traffic to Bing.com is to advertise on Google. Hey, fish where the fish are, as they say.
Using Google’s handy AdWords Keyword tool, I was able to determine that Microsoft’s “cost per click” for the phrase “search engine” is $4.47.
Which is to say, any time someone does a Google search using the phrase “search engine” and clicks on the Bing ad, our friends in Redmond pay our friends in Mountain View enough to cover a Google mid-level project manager’s Venti Mocha Cappuccino.
[I will leave it to your conscience to determine what you want to do with this piece of information. The part about how Microsoft has to pay Google $4.47 every time some web surfer clicks into Bing. com, I mean. That piece of information. Do what you want with it.]
Meantime, I did click on that Bing.com Google ad, purely in the name of research. It took me directly to a Bing search engine results page for the same search.
Here’s what I saw at the Bing results for the “search engine” search.
Bing's top result for "search engine": A video about Bing!
Well, the “organic” search result at the top is a video all about. . .Bing, a better way to search! Well, what are the chances?
Meantime, you’ll notice that in the right hand sidebar, there is no ad from our very good friends at Google.
They are probably at the Starbucks on 580 N Rengstorff Ave. in Mountain View, enjoying that Venti Mocha Cappuccino.
I do not see sweat on their brows.
