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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Advertising

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) contains Microsoft's advertising solutions. Advertising formats include search (Microsoft Search ads), Display and Native ads, Retail Media, and Video and Connected TV (CTV) ads. Services include Performance Max, the company's conversion optimization AI assistant and guide.N/A

    PathFactory

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/APathFactory enables you to unlock B2B revenue with AI-powered content intelligence which allows you to generate personalized, engaging, and conversion-focused experiences across the entire B2B buyer journey. Per the vendor, you can accelerate deal velocity and grow your pipeline by recommending the next-best assets for individual buyers and target accounts alike.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    PathFactory
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    68%
    Would buy again
    21 Answers
    93%
    Would buy again
    67 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    70%
    Delivers good value for the price
    21 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    50 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    65%
    Happy with the feature set
    20 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    67 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    45 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    92%
    Implementation went as expected
    47 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Microsoft Advertising and PathFactory
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.5
    6 Ratings
    0% above category average
    PathFactory
    -
    Ratings
    Ad campaign creation8.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad deployment8.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Display advertising6.46 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation6.46 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sequence targeting5.95 Ratings00 Ratings
    Contextual advertising5.56 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social advertising4.95 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Microsoft Advertising and PathFactory
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.6
    8 Ratings
    4% below category average
    PathFactory
    -
    Ratings
    Ad dashboards6.28 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad performance reports6.87 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking7.36 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting7.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization5.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Auctions
    Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Microsoft Advertising and PathFactory
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    14% below category average
    PathFactory
    -
    Ratings
    Ad bidding7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of Microsoft Advertising and PathFactory
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    PathFactory
    8.2
    158 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Content hub00 Ratings8.4150 Ratings
    Forms / Gated content00 Ratings7.5150 Ratings
    Embedded CTAs00 Ratings8.0135 Ratings
    Content distribution00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Content promotion00 Ratings9.06 Ratings
    Content automation00 Ratings7.0120 Ratings
    Content Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Content Reporting & Analytics features of Microsoft Advertising and PathFactory
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    PathFactory
    8.2
    158 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Audience profiling and targeting00 Ratings7.7132 Ratings
    Closed-loop tracking and reporting00 Ratings7.8125 Ratings
    Content performance analytics00 Ratings8.3157 Ratings
    Campaign optimization dashboard00 Ratings8.98 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Small Businesses
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (70 ratings)
    8.5
    (158 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    9.3
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (11 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.3
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.3
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AdvertisingPathFactory
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Despite using our account for advertising with every other social media company, Microsoft flagged ours as fraudulent. After dealing with them for weeks, we finally got to a manager, who said that they didn’t know anything, couldn’t provide any information, and was unable to do anything about it. It seems odd, but it would flagger account every time we try to upload the campaigns from Google directly into their ad manager. I would suggest if you try and use their platform, don’t tell them you’re using Google cause they seem to have a thing against it. Once your account is flagged, they have no reasonable way of resolving it, nor they are able to offer any support. You’re better off to just try a different way. Ultimately, just don’t use Microsoft advertising if you can possibly avoid it. Hopefully soon DuckDuckGo will have their own advertising platform and we can eliminate Microsoft given the terrible time we have working with this one of many, social media platforms.
    Read full review
    PathFactory
    It's a great tool if you want to create experiences on web and share content with your audience - especially if you want to create bingeable content. For a microsite, I would like to see more modules that build up a page, and great examples for inspiration
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Familiar interface, offers editor for bulk changes, adding negative keywords is much easier than in Google Ads
    • Nice reporting tools within the interface, detailed reports can be made fairly easily
    • Had very nice tools to help import/export ads directly from Google Ads, which saves a ton of time
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PathFactory
    • Create Visually appealing performance report
    • Give more in-depth information about performance metrics than most alternatives
    • Ability to track performance over time and compare this performance across time periods
    • Provide and send auto-run reports to top level management based on predefined criteria and timeframes
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Bing's ad platform could definitely use some improvements - it hasn't been updated in a long time, and it feels very outdated.
    • We feel that the optimization algorithms don't always perform as well for Bing Ads as they do in Google Ads (optimize for conversions, etc.).
    • It would be great to have even more integrations with LinkedIn audience targeting offered - right now, you can just make some bid optimizations in a couple of areas; we'd really like to get more robust options there, and maybe even things like cross-platform tracking.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PathFactory
    • Microsite was very hard to build ourselves. Changing the site can be really confusing and is not always intuitive. We have trouble knowing how to update items to get it to work the way we want it to.
    • Better instructions on how to customize tracks and use the different tools.
    • Users that come in without UTM parameters should still be included in all data reporting.
    • The reporting is confusing.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    We have had good success with it over all of our clients. We continually recommend bing to reach "the rest of the searchers".
    Incentivized
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    PathFactory
    We have seen a lot of value from our team's use of Path Factory. We also like working with this vendor as they actually take our feedback and implement it on their roadmap. A great vendor with a great product
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Microsoft
    It's very easy to use overall. It has an import from Google Ads to make things simpler. Overall, I would say you can get up and running very quickly. It's similar to other platforms, so if you have used them, it's intuitive.
    Incentivized
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    PathFactory
    Overall, I think the tool is fairly easy to use to get a basic content uploaded to create a track and even the more complicated features become easier once you become familiarised with the process
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PathFactory
    I think there was only one time where we had issues reaching our account manager, otherwise PathFactory was always willing to hop on the phone to talk through strategy, to work through issues, and help build custom solutions to fit our needs. Customer service is a big selling point of PathFactory.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PathFactory
    The analytics and reports feature is fairly new and have proved very popular with many areas of our business and is growing in popularity. The metrics that are attainable are very insightful and provides a clear picture on the performance of the track.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    Our Bing Ads reps are very good and attentive. They've offered good recommendations and are quick to resolve unexpected issues and problems. Occasionally they have roped in technical support folks that have been friendly and helpful too. The general helpline for Bing Ads is also very good, especially when compared to Google's customer support.
    Incentivized
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    PathFactory
    We meet weekly with Jennifer and I can't say enough about her. When issues have happened or we need help, she jumps on it quickly. If she doesn't know the answer, she pulls in Reggie or another on her team that can help. She goes above and beyond and has been very supportive, even when we had a lot of hard questions to answer from higher-ups. All this is on top of just being an awesome person.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PathFactory
    I was able to browse around the tool quite easily once some basic training was given. I learnt much from using those method and only needed further help when wanting to learn about Reports, External codes and adding forms.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PathFactory
    The customer service, from technical through to customer success, is one of the biggest reasons I'd recommend PathFactory. This is true of their training. It can be as bespoke as you like, at least in my experience, and the team is always willing (where possible) to incorporate your suggestions.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PathFactory
    The PathFactory team was very helpful when implementing the product. They gave us a lot of recommendations on best moving forward. As a note to new users, when implementing I would make sure that you create with your team a system to make sure that the platform is scalable. My team was able to do this through creating a foldering structure, naming conventions for tracks and assets, and ensuring tagging is used on all content uploads. I would also make sure when implementing that you have an understanding of how your team will track success and that your brand team is involved to make sure that there is consistency in the look and feel of the tracks
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Obviously Google is a huge competitor. Typically Google is top of the game for many advertising solutions including search. Microsoft ads has a lower scale and reach compared to Google. However, Microsoft ads audience does not overlap much with Googles, providing incremental reach. Although Microsoft ads lags a bit behind in adapting the new updates that Google comes out with, their customer service is very good and they are likely to go out of their way to adapt their platform to your needs whereas their competitor does not
    Incentivized
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    PathFactory
    I used Uberflip in a past company. I think they are pretty comparable. From what I remember, Uberflip was more intuitive to use, but I think PathFactory might have more capabilities. Although this was years ago, I am not aware of Uberflip's functionality now. I have had good experiences with both.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PathFactory
    Pathfactory is growing in popularity amongst individuals from different parts of the organisation and it would be difficult to forecast how scalable this can become
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • We've had a very hard time spending our budgets on Bing which has caused us a lot of extra work on our end. We've essentially had to move that money back to Google or other platforms.
    • It does have an easy import from Google so you're not doubling efforts.
    • The CPCs tend to be less expensive than Google - which is always good for business owners.
    Incentivized
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    PathFactory
    • We saw ROI within the first 9 months of using PathFactory.
    • Our onboarding team saw quicker adoption of our product while using PathFactory to engage them during the onboarding process.
    • We've been able to more accurately understand our content needs and what works best when prospecting for specific segments. (eg. SMB, mid-market, and enterprise)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    PathFactory Screenshots

    Screenshot of Netflix-like home screen for B2B buyers with personalized resource centers.Screenshot of Gives sales visibility into the content consumption data of leads & accounts, inside a CRM.Screenshot of Content Tracks - Gives B2B buyers bingeable content journeys that accelerate their purchase decisions, whenever and wherever they click.Screenshot of Path Analytics - Gives access to a new class of content consumption data on the level of the visitor, account, and content asset.Screenshot of Guide - Gives buyers spot-on content recommendations, anywhere on a website.Screenshot of Content Track Analytics - Shows how visitors binge content in specific Content Tracks, and assess how particular sequences of content perform.