Microsoft Advertising Introduces Impression Share Metrics: Just The Facts

In April 2019, Bing Ads became Microsoft Advertising. While the name change was largely cosmetic, it ushered in the introduction of several new products and updates. The most recent addition to Microsoft Advertising is position-based impression share metrics. These metrics will help advertisers get a more precise idea of where their ads are appearing on search result pages and, ultimately, how those results are impacting traffic and future campaign management.

What Are The Microsoft Advertising Position-Based Impression Share Metrics?

According to the Microsoft blog post announcing the update, the metrics are:

• Top impression share
• Top impression share lost to rank
• Top impression share lost to budget
• Absolute top impression share
• Absolute top impression share lost to rank
• Absolute top impression share lost to budget

Now called prominence metrics (previously known as share of voice), these deep drive metrics are available in the Microsoft Advertising Campaign, Ad Group and Key Word tabs.

Will Microsoft Advertising Keep “Average Position” In Their Metrics Reporting?

When Google introduced position-based impression share metrics last fall, they announced plans to sunset average position reporting by September of 2019 because it doesn’t offer consistent results and the new metrics provided much more specific and useful insights. Conversely, Microsoft Advertising is keeping the average position reporting feature for now. “One key metric that will remain in your reporting is average position, as we’ve heard continuous feedback that shows this information is still very valuable to you,” said Nahva Tecklu, a Microsoft Advertising Program Manager. However, Search Engine Land points out that average position may also disappear on Microsoft Advertising if Microsoft sees that users easily adapt to not having it on Google. This adaptability could illustrate to Microsoft that average position is no longer useful or necessary for advertisers.

Why Should These New Microsoft Advertising Position Share Metrics Matter To Marketers?

Data is the boss. The more actionable information marketers have, the more successful their marketing strategies are likely to be. The new metrics allow marketers to more accurately analyze the success of specific campaigns, compare paid and organic search results and perhaps “shed light” on why other metrics are or are not performing.

Reimagining Your Digital Marketing Win?