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Google or Bing? Which search engine is your target audience using?

Since 9 out of 10 searches in the world happen on Google, it makes perfect sense for marketers and business owners to start there. I'm not advocating you to consider Bing as the starting search engine, however, there are key differences that could be used to leverage and maximize your ad spends potential.


When it comes to searching I personally haven't used Bing in years. In fact, I do use Google for all of my searches, occasionally I’ll use Duckduckgo because I think the name looks cool. However, If you’re a business owner or a marketer and you’re interested in expanding your reach in search ads then continue reading… You might find a reason or two to give Bing a chance as well.


Since 75% of Bing searches come from Internet Explorer, this should give you a clue on who’s searching. Either, this person really likes Internet Explorer or doesn’t know how to install a different browser such as Chrome or Firefox. So, this person may be over 35 and less tech-savvy. 


Another benefit of Bing is that because it has fewer campaigns than Google, the cost per click is usually lower. It may be worth budgeting a percentage of your ad spend to test if your target audience is there.


On the other hand, Google process nearly 6 billion searches per day, so to say your target audience is there may be an understatement. Also Google’s bidding strategies such as Enhanced CPC and Maximize Clicks are consistently improving, this helps marketers slash costs while maximizing ROI.


Also known as the “go-to medium for local searches”, Google supports local businesses to compete against large corporations at a local search level. Small businesses are known as the backbone of the economy, so Google may be the default ad targeting search engine for less known thriving businesses.


In closing, Google process over 2 trillion searches per year. Although Bing has some key differences to note, the search engine of choice for most businesses is Google. Other noteworthy search engines to keep in mind are Baidu which powers nearly 70% of searches in China and Yandex which powers nearly 60% of searches in Russia.