Bing Introduces New “Maximize Clicks” Bid Strategy
Yesterday Microsoft announced a new bid strategy in Bing Ads – maximize clicks. This bid strategy has been available in AdWords for some time, but is now finally available in Bing. The strategy is designed to do exactly what it sounds like – maximize the number of clicks you receive within your current budget. With this strategy, you set your budget and Bing will automatically adjust bids for you with the goal of getting as many clicks as possible.
Microsoft says they added the new bid strategy because they received a lot of feedback from advertisers who want more support for automated bidding options. Aside from the “maximize clicks” bid strategy, there are currently two other bid strategies within Bing: Enhanced CPC (an automated strategy where Bing adjusts bids to get you more conversions) and Manual CPC (you set your own bids).
Microsoft recommends that you use the maximize clicks setting for at least a month before comparing results to previous bid strategies because their algorithm needs that time to learn and optimize.
Also, personally, I’d recommend keeping a close eye on your search traffic if you employ this bid strategy. Anyone who’s used Bing in the past knows their query matching is much more liberal than Google’s (often liberal to the point of being irrelevant). More clicks obviously doesn’t necessarily mean good clicks – so be sure to monitor your search queries to ensure you’re still getting high quality clicks.
To learn more about the new bid strategy and how to implement it, click here.
