Dive Brief:
- Not quite a year after announcing the program, Bing Native Ads is set to launch in beta on MSN.com.
- Targeting will be similar to search ads with criteria such as location; time and day; and device type.
- Multiple signals including website behavior and search terms will be used to target the native ads.
Dive Insight:
Last fall Bing announced its Bing Native Ads program, and it’s now set to launch on MSN.com in beta. This test run will use search intent signals, such as search terms and website behavior to target native advertising, and marketers will be able to target with the same criteria as search ads using location, time of day, day of week, device type and site remarketing. MSN.com received an estimated 1.6 billion visits in June, but only 26.7% of that traffic was from the U.S.
Microsoft recently outsourced its display ads to AOL, and with Bing Native Ads joins Yahoo Gemini, a mobile search and native ad buying platform across Yahoo’s properties. Research from the Association of National Advertisers found 60% of advertisers reporting increased native ad budgets by 55% in 2014. Native ad spending is expected to be $4.3 billion this year according to eMarketer, up from $3.2 billion last year.
