According to the latest data from ComScore, Microsoft's Bing search engine received the largest increase in total share in search for the month of November. Bing received approximately 9.9% of all search queries in October, this increased to 10.3% in November. Google saw a smaller share increase - 65.4% to 65.6%. Meanwhile, Yahoo continued its slide - falling to 17.5% from 18% in October. For the October numbers, please see my earlier blog post.

Mostly Good News for Bing

This obviously is mostly good news for Microsoft as more people were likely using the search engine for doing their holiday shopping. The downside is that this increase in numbers for using the Bing search engine comes at the expense of Yahoo. Given that visitors to the Yahoo.com properties will soon be using the Bing search engine, the preferred outcome for Microsoft would be for the increase in Bing market share to come at the expense of Google. That hasn't happened - at least not yet.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

It is always good to have competition in the marketplace to keep costs down. In this case, as a Denver small business owner, competition among the major search engines will help to keep ad costs down. Google pretty much dominates the search market, and unless more competition for search ads emerges, the price to advertise on Google will continue to rise. Bing gaining in market share is good news - but it would be better news if search was more evenly divided among the search engines.

Denver Small Business advertisers should still focus their efforts on Google AdWords first to get the most data and results to base decisions on. If you're doing a significant volume with Google AdWords, then you'll probably also want to run essentially the same campaigns on Microsoft AdCenter as well.

According to a recent article in TechCrunch - Bing Searchers are more likely to click on pay-per-click ads than searchers who are using Google or Yahoo. The study shows that people using the Bing search engine are actually almost twice as likely to click on a paid ad than are users of Google search.

Note: Not Paid Search Ads on Search Engine Results Pages

The study didn't evaluate paid search ads that appeared on search engine results pages. The study evaluated visitor behavior after they clicked on an organic search listing on a search engine results page and were delivered to a website. The study then measured whether or not they would click on an ad once they arrived on a third party website.

So in a nutshell, the study measured whether a user of Bing/Google/Yahoo was likely to click on content network ads once they were delivered to a site away from the search engine itself.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

While this study didn't specifically measure paid search ads on search engine results pages, it is reasonable to expect there to be some correlation between clicking on a paid search ad on a third party site and clicking on an ad on a search engine results page. If true, it appears that Bing users are a bit more likely to click when it comes to paid search ads. You can probably expect to get better clickthrough rates for many campaigns with Microsoft AdCenter (using Bing as its search engine) than you would using Google AdWords (using Google as its search engine).

While the volume for Bing searches locally here in Denver is likely to be much smaller than Google searches, I would strongly recommend that Denver small business owners investigate AdCenter. You're probably going to get a lower cost per click on Bing than you are on Google. You're also likely to get a higher clickthrough rate with Microsoft AdCenter for the same keyword phrases that you're using in Google AdWords (all else being equal).

That said, Denver small businesses participating in local search advertising with the major search engines likely aren't dealing with huge volumes of clicks or site visitors. For that reason, I advise that you start with Google AdWords. AdWords will give you the most clicks and therefore solid data that you can use to optimize your advertising campaigns. As I advise most of my Denver clients - learn what you can from Google AdWords - then port the advertising campaigns to other ad platforms like Microsoft AdCenter.

AdWords Editor Update

For those of you using AdWords Editor to assist in placing your Denver local advertising online, be advised that Google has just released the latest version of AdWords Editor - 7.6.1.

AdWords Editor is a desktop application that allows you to easily make changes to your Google Adwords Campaigns when you're not online. When you're done making your changes, you upload those changes to Google AdWords. A key feature of AdWords Editor is that it allows you to make bulk changes to your account pretty much instantly - something that is much more difficult to do while accessing AdWords online. AdWords editor is essential for any Denver businesses that are marketing using Google AdWords. It is a huge timesaver.

Microsoft adCenter Desktop Beta Update

Not to be outdone, Microsoft is also keeping pace by updating its adCenter Desktop Beta. Like Google AdWords Editor - the intent is to make it easier to set up and to make sweeping changes to your adCenter advertising account more easily. I have found in the past that Desktop Beta works pretty well - but have had some instances with changes I made locally getting through to my adCenter account. Hopefully things will work a bit smoother with this new update.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

Most Denver businesses could probably benefit greatly by advertising online using the AdWords or AdCenter platforms. These desktop tools make it much easier to create and manage campaigns and save a ton of time over trying to deal with the online interface. The adCenter online interface in particular has quite a ways to go before it is as responsive and easy to use as the AdWords online interface. That said, the adCenter online interface is much improved from where it used to be and already outshines Yahoo's search marketing interface. It is much easier to use and much more intuitive.

For More Information about Google AdWords Editor, be sure to check out these links:

• AdWords Editor Getting Started Guide
• Google AdWords Editor Help
• Google AdWords Editor Download

For More Information about Microsft adCenter Desktop Beta, be sure to check out these links:

• adCenter Desktop Beta Download Page
• Google AdWords Editor Help
• Google AdWords Editor Download

Bing Search Engine Gaining Market Share

According to Nielsen, Bing's search market share rose 22.1 percent from August to September. This brings Bing to a total of 10.7% of all searches - well behind the market share of its biggest rival Google.

How to Advertise on Search Results Pages

If you wish to market your Denver business on search engine results pages, you need to go directly to the search engine advertising platforms:
Bing - Microsoft's AdCenter
Google - Google AdWords

When you sign up for one of these advertising services, you can purchase ads on search engine results pages that are related to your business. When people search for services that your Denver business offers, your ads will appear. Both search engines allow you to target to the local level. So, if you run a business in Denver, you can make sure that your ads only appear to people who are in Denver.

What Does this Mean for Marketing My Denver Small Business?

The smart path for marketing a Denver small business - or any small business that wishes to advertise on a local level - is to start out by trying online advertising with Google AdWords. Google will give you access to a much larger audience. This means that you'll get feedback much more quickly on what is working and what isn't. Starting with Google AdWords will give you the opportunity to fine tune your campaign prior to bringing it over to other advertising platforms.

When to Advertise on Microsoft AdCenter

After you've learned what you can from Google AdWords - the time is right to bring the small business marketing campaigns over to Microsoft's AdCenter. While it reaches a smaller audience, Microsoft AdCenter has some advantages over Google. There is generally less competition - especially at a local level. What this means is that your cost per lead for your Denver Marketing efforts will likely be significantly less when advertising with Microsoft AdCenter than it is when Google AdWords is used.