Bidding and Traffic Estimation - TrainingStudies show impressions have a much greater impact when they achieve a higher rank on the page. Making quality bids are one way to influence a higher page rank. To assist with bidding decisions, Bing Ads has tools that suggest bid amounts and estimate click traffic. After reading this training, you will understand how to: 

Set keyword and website placement bids. Update keyword and website placement bids.

Top Tip:  Keyword bids are not static. It’s good practice to constantly review and adjust your keyword bids based on actual results as well as estimated results.  

 BasicsThe heart of online advertising is matching relevant ads with potential customers. Bids are just one of several factors that affect your ad’s position. Along with bids, keyword relevance, and quality score are critical variables that determine ad rank. However, fully understanding bidding is important because it’s possible to overpay for performance when trying to display in the mainline (A) and sidebar (B) locations. 

When creating your bids, keep in mind:

Your keyword or website placement bid is the maximum price you are willing to pay each time your ad is clicked. Your actual cost may be much lower.

Your budget affects the number of times your ad can be clicked in a given day or month. Flexible bidding toolsIn order to get the best performance at the lowest cost, Bing Ads provides the following tools and techniques for customizing your bid strategy.

Control bidding by separating default bids for the search network and content networks. Choose individual keywords bids, overriding the default bid set at the ad-group level. Bid on individual keywords based on how closely a search query matches your keyword,

using match types. Use suggested bid amounts to help meet a specific placement on the page. Set incremental bids if the user meets one or more of your targeting criteria.

 Estimating for best bid levelsBid and traffic estimation tools can access and analyze all auction data and then suggest optimal bid amounts for your keywords. Once you have chosen the best suggested bid amount, the estimation feature gives you a performance estimate for that keyword, showing approximate impressions, clicks, and total spend for that keyword.  It’s important to remember that estimation is based on all auction data from the previous seven days. For example, if your keyword bid is $0.50 U.S. dollar, traffic estimation shows you how your $0.50 U.S. dollar bid would have performed based on data from the last seven days. For comparison purposes, if you change your bid to one U.S. dollar, you’ll see what your results would have been with a one U.S. dollar bid. Although traffic estimation does not predict future performance of bids, looking at hypothetical bids in relation to real data can give you valuable insight into trends and probable results.     Bid and traffic estimation tools provide the estimated bid to reach your desired location on the search result page, or in the content network. This includes:

Best position: The first position in the mainline location. Mainline ads appear just above the organic search results in the center column of the page.

Mainline: Any position in the mainline location. First page: Any position on the first page, including the mainline or sidebar locations.

Let’s look at these three positions in more detail. 

Setting keyword bidsWhen you first create a new campaign or ad group and define your initial set of keywords, you’ll also enter the ad group default bids for the search and content networks. When creating a new keyword list, you can override the ad group default bid by selecting “unique bids” for chosen keywords. After clicking the ”add” button, you can choose bids based on the various page positions: first page,mainline, or best position. You can also set a custom value.

 Updating keyword bidsOnline marketing is not a “set it and forget it” activity. You should monitor and adjust your campaigns as needed. Sooner or later, you’ll want to change your bid amounts for keywords. When that time comes, there are two estimation methods to help you decide keyword bid amounts. You can adjust your bid amounts by:

Choosing a results page location and letting the tool set the bid amount. Setting your own bid amount in relation to traffic estimation.

 If you want to target a page position, click “estimation drop-down option and select one of the three page estimation choices. For example, if you choose ”first page estimation”, the bid amount in the Current Bidcolumn will change to a close approximation of what it costs for that keyword to achieve a first page placement. 

If you prefer to enter your own bid amounts and then increase or decrease based on potential traffic, you can work that way as well. To see bid estimations, click the ”estimation” drop down option, then “traffic estimation”. On this screen, when you enter bids for individual keywords, you see the traffic performance estimates for those bids. This allows you to experiment and discover bid settings that work for you. For bulk traffic estimation changes, click the ”make bulk changes” button.

Incremental BidsWhether you’re using ad group default bids, or you’ve customized your bids based on estimations, you can also set incremental bids at the ad-group level to increase the chance that your ads are seen by your target customers. The incremental bid amount can be set to

either increase or decrease (in 1% increments) your keyword bid when a targeted customer triggers the ad.     

SummaryAs an advertiser, you want your ad to display at or near the top of the search results page. Optimal keyword bids are critical for achieving a high rank while not overpaying. Bing Ads provides tools that allow you to analyze estimated results and create informed keyword bids. As you work with your bidding strategy, remember these key points:   

Use the bid and traffic estimation tools to help you place optimal bids. Monitor and adjust your campaigns as needed.

 Thank you for reading this training on Bidding and Traffic Estimation. Continue training here or move onto the exam to become accredited. Please note all features in this training may not be available in your market.

Bing Ads Budgeting - TrainingBing Ads is equipped with budgeting functionality to help control your advertising spend.  This training will explain available budgeting options and show you how to set up a daily or monthly campaign budget. 

After reading this training, you will understand how to: 

Describe the campaign budget options available in Bing Ads. Determine the most appropriate budget option for your campaign. Set your campaign budget.

Budgeting basicsYour campaign budget is the total amount covering expenses across your campaign’s ad groups.  Bing Ads allows you to budget on a daily or monthly basis.  The daily option lets you control how quickly your budget is spent.  If you choose the monthly option, you set a monthly maximum that depletes as customers click your ads.  There are, however, variations of the two options, and ways to quickly and easily modify them.

Daily standard budgetThe daily standard budget is the default option when you set up the ad group. This budget option offers several benefits:

The budget is spent smoothly throughout the day. If the click rate is higher than expected, the rate of spend may be slowed to ensure

budget is available at the end of the day. Your budget limit is a general target, allowing the actual daily spend to be slightly higher

or lower.

Daily accelerated budgetSometimes you may not want to “smooth out” clicks across the entire day.  With the daily accelerated budgetoption, Bing Ads spends the daily budget as quickly as clicks occur.  With this option, the entire daily budget could be spent in the first few hours of the day.  When the daily accelerated budget limit is reached, ads stop serving until the next calendar day.

Monthly budgetThe monthly budget functions similarly to the daily accelerated budget only over the duration of a month.  Your budget is depleted as clicks occur.  When the limit is reached, ads pause until the first day of the next calendar month.

Choose an appropriate budget optionWhen you select a budget option, consider whether you will monitor and change your budget frequently. Evaluate your advertising goals and total available budget.  Set a daily budget if you want to monitor and change your budget frequently.  For example, you may want to adjust your daily budget for increased demand during a promotion or a holiday

season.  If you don’t want to monitor your campaign budget each day, choose Daily Standard to reduce chances your budget is depleted before the end of the day.

If you monitor your campaign each day, choose Daily Accelerated to maximize your impressions. This option is recommended when you have a high budget and can accommodate ad traffic occurring throughout the day. 

Set a monthly budget if you don't anticipate changing your budget very often.  The monthly budget option works well when you have a high or unlimited budget, and can accommodate all potential ad traffic.

If you are running a new campaign, or are a new search marketer, use the default Daily Standard budgeting for a week or two. Collect enough data to evaluate your performance and campaign needs.

Setting a daily or monthly budgetAt the time you set up a new campaign, you’ll be asked to make your budgeting selections. 

To choose the daily budget option, select Daily from the drop-down menu next to the Campaign budget box.  In the Campaign budget box, enter your daily amount.  When you set a daily budget, the Bing Ads system multiplies the daily amount by the number of days in the current month and automatically calculates the maximum monthly budget.  Expand Daily budget options to select how you want the budget spent, Standard or Accelerated. 

Changing your budgetYour budget is directly affected by your keyword bid amounts.  Since keyword bids can vary, be sure to monitor the bid amounts and frequency of clicks.  If you notice unfavorable bid amounts and click frequencies, change your budget settings.  To make edits:  

Go to the Campaigns page and hover over the Budget column of the Campaign row you want to update.  Click the pen icon to proceed. You can only change the budget amount this way.

Change the budget type and the amount by selecting the campaign and choosing the settings tab.  Undercampaign settings, alter the Campaign budget information.

Budgeting suggestionsTo conveniently manage budget issues, access the Budget Suggestions tool from the opportunities tab.  For each campaign with a depleted, or nearly depleted budget, Bing Ads provides a recommended budget, along with an estimated increase in clicks. 

Using this tool, it’s easy to make adjustments to budget recommendations, and apply the new budgets to your campaigns.  

Summary Bing Ads gives you flexibility on how to serve ads.  Your choice depends on how active you are monitoring and modifying your campaign.  Consider these options as you set up your budgeting: 

Choose the Daily Standard budget option to divide your daily budget across the day. This option may reduce the chances of your budget depleting before the end of the day.

Choose the Daily Accelerated option if you want to spend your daily budget as quickly as clicks occur. 

Choose the monthly budget option if you don’t anticipate changing your budget frequently.

Thank you for reading this training on Bing Ads Budgeting. Continue training here or move onto the exam to become accredited.

Please note all features in this training may not be available in your market.

Bing Ads Auction Explained: How Bid, Cost-per-Click and Quality Score Work Together

Matt Bisson - MSFT

Posted on 16.09.13 10   Comment(s)

The Bing Ads team is always thinking about how to improve your experience with our product and services.  One way is providing insight and transparency into our systems, since knowing context can help inform day-to-day decisions.  In this spirit, we would like to explain just how our Ad Auction works (if you'd like to download a PDF version of this post for future reference, you can do so here).The Ad AuctionEvery time someone performs a search on the Yahoo! Bing Network, we run an auction – an online market not unlike a real auction – to determine which ads are shown and where they are placed on the page.

 Advertisers compete in this auction by bidding on keywords that match their product or service to the search, and win an opportunity to display their advertisement on the search results page, as illustrated above.  The price the advertiser pays every time someone clicks on his or her ad (CPC, or Cost-Per-Click) is also determined here in the auction.What kinds of factors dictate where and when your ad lands, and how do they interact?Quality Score vs. Quality in the AuctionLet’s begin with Quality Score (QS). Most advertisers are familiar with the QS displayed in Bing Ads Web UI and API.  It is a reporting metric that indicates how well the ad is performing relative to expectations and competition.  Quality Score in this form serves as guidance for advertisers on how to improve their ad to increase traffic and revenue.  However, it is not the same metric used for ranking and pricing in the ad auction.The complex mechanism by which QS is determined in the auction enables us to reconcile the motivation between searchers and advertisers to benefit each[1].   The principal behind QS is the same regardless of the context in which it is applied– namely, to help advertisers gauge the degree by which their ad satisfies the intent of a search query.  The ad auction looks keenly at the quality of the advertisement (indicated by measures of its relevancy outlined here) to ensure that the right ads are shown to the right users, rather than just the ad of the highest bidder.  For example, if a user types “Las Vegas Hotels” into Bing, it is highly unlikely we will show an ad for “New York Flights” because of its low relevance to search intent, despite the fact that its advertiser may have the highest bid.Showing only the most relevant advertisements ensures a quality search experience on the Yahoo! Bing Network, and is our primary goal. While QS used by advertisers is not used in the auction, it is useful to describe how the data used to generate QS also helps determine an ad’s “Ad Rank.”

Ad RankAd Rank is a metric we use in the auction to rank ads of varying quality and different bids. Generally speaking, we calculate Ad Rank by multiplying your bid by various scores related to your ad’s quality.  Let’s use Quality Score to observe how the auction works in the example on the next page.Four advertisers, each with varying Quality Scores and bids, compete against each other for a spot on the results page.  As you can see, although George has the highest bid, Jerry wins the auction and is awarded by ranking #1.  Notice that because Jerry’s QS is four times higher than George’s, Jerry is able to achieve an Ad Rank twice as good (8 vs. 2).

          So now that we’ve seen how Quality Score and Ad Rank interact in the Ad Auction, what determines how much an advertiser actually pays every time a user clicks on his or her ad?Cost-per-click (CPC)Your CPC is a function of your Ad Rank relative to that of the competitor right behind you.  CPC is calculated as follows:

Let’s see how much Jerry pays for a click in our example auction, using the above formula.

                                         We divide Elaine’s Ad Rank (6) by Jerry’s Ad Rank (8), and multiply that result by Jerry’s bid to get $1.50[2].  Thus, every time someone clicks on Jerry’s ad, he is charged $1.50.There are a couple points to be aware of here:

First, notice that while Jerry is #1, he observes a lower CPC than Elaine and George because his QS is high.  While such a scenario certainly is possible and happens frequently in fact, for the most part higher positions cost more per click because of the greater competition for them.Second, notice that if we were to raise Jerry’s bid, his CPC would not change, regardless of how high he raised it.  We recommend you try it right now by going through the

equation for Jerry using a $20 dollar bid instead of a $2 dollar bid to observe the pricing function in action.

So now that we’ve seen how CPC is calculated, what you can do to influence it? Internal Factors that Influence the CPCWhile you may not have control over the market and your competition, there are several important factors you do have control over.  Let’s look at these.BidAs an advertiser, your bid is single-handedly the most direct and influential lever in your control to maximize ad rank and the likelihood your ad is displayed.  A bid represents the maximum price an advertiser is willing to pay.  However, it is very often the case that what you actually pay is lower than that amount.  Ideally, the higher you bid, the higher you value the click.  Bing Ads uses the auction to ensure that it maximizes clicks where advertisers value them the most.  Therefore, it is generally the case that increasing your bid results in a more favorable ad position, which in turn increases the number of clicks on your ad.  Along these lines, an increase in bid that does not improve ad position will not directlyincrease your CPC.Quality ScoreQuality is a dynamic measure, so as the performance of your ad changes over time, your quality score can also change.  Holding all other factors constant (including what your competitors are doing):

Increase QS --> Lower CPC for the same ad position.In turn, to lift your QS, we recommend improving these three areas under your control:

Keyword Relevance Landing Page Relevance Landing Page Quality

Keyword Relevance

Keyword relevance (KWR) is a measure of how “clickable” your ad is compared to the competitors in the auction – this is often referred to as Click-Through-Rate (CTR).  There are two important notes here:

First, you could have a high KWR score because everyone else is doing poorly in comparison; don’t assume that you cannot increase your keyword’s CTR even when your KWR or QS is high. Second, while they may be correlated, the CTR you see in your account is not the same CTR used as this metric or in the auction.  CTR must be normalized for dozens of variables besides that of the advertiser’s. 

For instance, because two ads cannot show in the same position at the same time, we must normalize CTR performance for ad position.  Normalization involves a sophisticated mathematical process, and we therefore recommend that advertisers not evaluate their ad’s performance on CTR alone. Again though, the underlying principal remains the same: the more relevant your keywords are to the words or phrases users type in when they perform a search, the higher your ad’s CTR, and the higher your QS. Landing Page RelevanceIt isn’t enough to get a user to click on your ad; the content you ultimately deliver needs to be relevant to his/her needs.  Bing Ads assigns a score to your landing page (LP), which indicates how well it meets search intent.  Landing Page QualityAlthough an ad may have high keyword relevance (“clickability) and contain content that is relevant, it may lead the user to a site that provides a poor experience.  Again, our goal is to provide search users with the best experience possible.  This means displaying only relevant ads that satisfy what they’re searching for, as well as limiting their exposure to sub-par websites[3]. External Factors that Influence the CPCIn most cases, however, there are a set of external factors that can drive fluctuation to prices and ranking:CompetitionAs advertisers constantly optimize, your competitors bid may increase or decrease, which in turn changes their Ad Rank.  In some cases this may result in ranking changes, but in many it will just influence pricing.  For example, let’s return to our example auction and look at two different scenarios. 

 

If George increases his bid from $3.00 to $3.50, Jerry will observe a 17 percent increase in his CPC.  Although neither Jerry nor George’s positions in the ranking changed, a significant CPC increase happens for Jerry.  You may also notice that even though George increased his bid, his price remains unaffected.  In general, price increases resulting from your higher bid can only happen if there are position changes. Model UpdatesBecause Bing Ads is constantly working to improve user experience and optimize the marketplace, we update our models frequently[4].  Such updates aim to improve the quality score estimation or adjust pricing reserves, which in turn improves performance metrics (like pricing) for individual advertisers, as well as the search experience for users. Customer FeedbackContext matters, and we hope pulling back the curtain on how the Ad Auction works will better inform your search marketing strategy going forward.  We invite your feedback and suggestions for additional insight into Bing Ads that you feel would help you maximize your performance on the Yahoo! Bing Network. 

Special thanks to content contributors Aurea Astro and Mike McMeekin.[1] Landing page relevance, user engagement with your ad and site, index of keyword relevance comparisons, and more interact in a detailed, data-driven mechanism that determines QS in the ad auction.  The dynamic nature of QS as a living, breathing metric that incorporates relative values in the market may produce unexpected results from time to time for an advertiser only familiar with the factors of QS that he/she can control.  Across the industry, QS is the product of relevant values between all the players in an ad auction. So, for example, if you improve your QS without changing your bid, and your CPC rises, it is most likely that the average QS amongst your competitors also rose.  Your CPC is relative to not only your QS, but the QS of those around you.  [2] (6/8) * $2.00 = $1.50.[3]Interstitials or processes by which users are forced to enter personal information before they can move forward are typically considered sub-par, even if the page content is relevant.[4] We update data in the model frequently, not the algorithm itself.  The result of these updates is a more accurate Quality Score for advertisers.Tags: Bidding, budgeting, CPC, Optimization, Quality Score, Relevance

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CommentsAnonymous Posted on 16.09.13 12:04

Sorry of the question but I don't get the whole picture. So could you please elaborate how CPC amount for last advertiser get calculated?Anonymous Posted on 16.09.13 22:11

Hello,If you are referring to Jerry, his CPC is calculated by dividing Elaine's Ad Rank (6) by his own Ad Rank (8), and multiplying that result by his bid ($2) to get $1.50.Anonymous Posted on 17.09.13 07:56

To your question on how the last advertisers price is calculated (for example, Kramer from the first scenario), the price of the last displayed ad, is determined by the main line or side bar reserve price. For the CPC formula above, you would replace "competitors ad rank" with the market reserve.  The market reserve is determined by a combination of min quality and min bid requirements which is set at the auction level.  In cases the ad doesn't clear the market reserve, your ad will not display.  More details can be found in our help pages here:advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/.../change-your-bid-price-to-boost-your-adSuggested bids may also be leveraged, details here:advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/.../did-i-bid-high-enoughAnonymous Posted on 25.09.13 06:50

Great informative read! :)Anonymous Posted on 30.09.13 17:38

what goes into auction process is it a listing together or the keywords and individual ad that bids on it??Anonymous Posted on 03.10.13 23:19

I do not get this part :"Second, notice that if we were to raise Jerry’s bid, his CPC would not change, regardless of how high he raised it.  We recommend you try it right now by going through the equation for Jerry using a $20 dollar bid instead of a $2 dollar bid to observe the pricing function in action."According to the formula, CPC will be multiplied by 10.Matt Bisson - MSFT Posted on 14.10.13 22:18

@ 10/1/13 commenter..Although your bid can be set at different levels explained in our help pages here, the auction will run for all KW/ad combos that qualify for the query.Matt Bisson - MSFT Posted on 14.10.13 22:22

@ 10/4 comment...Thanks for the question.  Please revisit the calculation.  In this case, your bid will be multiplied by 10, but so will your rank score which results in no impact to the computed CPC.  In the case of Jerry, although his bid will increase to $20, his ad rank will increase to 80.Anonymous Posted on 18.10.13 01:41

Is there a way to know what your competitor is biddingMatt Bisson - MSFT Posted on 01.11.13 04:06

@10/18 comment...Apologies for the delay.  To protect the fidelity of the auction, information about your competitors bid or quality score is not shared, but for helpful information on bidding, please take a look at the links provided below.advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/.../change-your-bid-price-to-boost-your-adadvertise.bingads.microsoft.com/.../did-i-bid-high-enough

Check this website ! 

advertise.bingads.microsoft.com