These past few months have been busy here at Microsoft. At Bing Ads we have focused our efforts on creating a stronger foundation for our search advertising business so we can accelerate our vision into 2013. In November, for example, I shared that the Yahoo! Bing Network is now available in more than 22 countries, which came on the heels of the Bing Ads and Yahoo! Bing Network rebrands in September. These two initiatives were driven by our mantra, “customers first, results focused.”  

I’m excited to say that the fruits of our labors are beginning to pay off. The industry, and most importantly our customers, are beginning to take note.

Over these past few months, the product and business leaders on my team have traveled the globe to listen to feedback from customers. One particular request we’ve heard loud and clear from advertisers is the need for higher click volume. We took that feedback to heart. Today I’m proud to say that now we are seeing 25-45% more click volume coming from the Yahoo! Bing Network than was the case one year ago. That is fantastic momentum, but we are not about to rest on our laurels.

In addition, I have seen firsthand the positive results advertisers are experiencing with the recent launch of Sitelink Extensions and Long Ad Titles, as well with as our Import Campaigns tool that makes it easier for advertisers to do business with us.

Those are just a few of the examples of the work we’re doing to make search advertising easier for our customers. According to a recent report from RKG:

“In late 2012, Bing Ads finally seemed to be hitting its stride. Bing’s expanded ad matching capabilities are now delivering quality traffic to advertisers at much greater rates” and;

“Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to bring Bing Ads’ core functionality more in line with AdWords have made it easier to manage both programs, reducing barriers to entry for smaller advertisers.”

In addition to the RKG, we’ve also seen positive numbers in recent reports from Marin and Ignition One. Highlights from those reports include:

· On Yahoo and Bing, advertisers saw marked improvement in clicks. On a year-over-year basis, advertisers saw 25% higher click volumes along with a 22% jump in CPC and a 13% increase in the average CTR. [Marin]

· Bing search spending rose 54% on 39% higher clicks and 11% higher CPCs. [RKG]

· For the fourth quarter in a row, Bing Ads gained paid search spend share from Google. [RKG]

· Yahoo! Bing continued to accelerate its growth with a YoY increase in spend of 48% compared to Google’s 12% . This helped the Yahoo! Bing Network grab the largest share (24%) of the US market since Q1 2009. [Ignition One]

With the next Bing Ads feature release cycle coming out in March you will see that we are continuing to improve the accuracy of search results, expand the ad types and formats available, and drive rich consumer experiences. A few of the updates/features that customers can expect to hear more about this year include:

· Additional work in the product ad space;

· Click-to-call ad capabilities for mobile using Skype; and

· New capabilities for small and medium businesses to be successful with the launch of Bing Ads Express.

While Bing is committed to evolving consumer experiences through innovation, our partnerships are just as important – as you can see with the recent news from Facebook around their Social Graph, which includes Bing-powered web results.

And don’t forget mobile and tablet devices. We know this is an area of continued growth and concentration for our customers. I’m pleased to report that, according to The Search Agency, over the past year (Q4’11 to Q4’12), the percent of total click share on these devices across our network tripled from 4% to 13%.

We’re scrappy, agile, and laser focused on continuing to grow and invest in search in a variety of ways; be it traditional search ads or local and mobile opportunities.

What does all this mean for you as an advertiser? It means that Bing Ads connects you to a distinct, unique audience only found on the Yahoo! Bing Network – connecting you to high quality customers for your business. We will continue to work tirelessly to make Bing Ads and the Yahoo! Bing Network the easiest to use and best performing search ad network on the market today.

We are making Search advertising easier for our customers to use, and we are delivering features that advertisers are asking for to drive real results for their very real businesses. The proof is in the pudding.

Stay tuned, this is just the beginning,

David Pann