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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

    Semrush

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ASemrush is a relatively popular search engine optimization tool set from the company of the same name based in Pennsylvania and founded in 2008. Largely the platforms relies on competitive intelligence, and features SEO staples like backlink checking, keyword analysis to refine SEO and PPC campaigning and locate low-cost / high-yield keywords, analysis of competitors who co-occupy desired ad and listing spaces, domain vs. domain analysis, as well as site audit and domain tracking. Semrush can…

    $139.95

    per month

    Pricing
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Pro
    $139.95
    per month
    Guru
    $249.95
    per month
    Business
    $499.95
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details—17% discount for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    Bing Ads works similarly to Google Ads (Formerly AdWords) in the fact that it is search engine marketing. It differs in how it reaches a slightly more educated audience, has lower CPC (less competition) and often a better ROI. "Green technologies", solar, wind, etc. work …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    The other big PPC platform is Google Adwords. Google Adwords beats Bing Ads in almost every way. The only advantage Bing Ads has is the lower cost per click. What I recommend though is trying both. They are not directly competing because using both will put your company on both …
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    We used Bing Ads in addition to AdWords. Bing Ads doesn't drive as much volume or as many qualified leads for our highly tech savvy audience.
    Incentivized
    Semrush
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    68%
    Would buy again
    21 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    107 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    70%
    Delivers good value for the price
    21 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    95 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    65%
    Happy with the feature set
    20 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    106 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    95 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Microsoft Advertising and Semrush
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.5
    6 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Semrush
    -
    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 Semrush
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.6
    8 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Semrush
    -
    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 Semrush
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Semrush
    -
    Ratings
    Ad bidding7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of Microsoft Advertising and Semrush
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    Semrush
    8.0
    154 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Keyword analysis00 Ratings8.6154 Ratings
    Backlink management00 Ratings8.4147 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking00 Ratings8.4150 Ratings
    Page grader00 Ratings7.9129 Ratings
    Competitive analysis00 Ratings8.5149 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics00 Ratings8.0150 Ratings
    Site recommendations00 Ratings7.7139 Ratings
    Task management00 Ratings6.491 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of Microsoft Advertising and Semrush
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    Semrush
    8.2
    140 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Local SEO00 Ratings8.1128 Ratings
    Social SEO00 Ratings8.0106 Ratings
    Mobile SEO00 Ratings8.5113 Ratings
    Global SEO00 Ratings8.1114 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Microsoft Advertising and Semrush
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    Semrush
    8.4
    125 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Multi-domain support00 Ratings8.1115 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools00 Ratings8.7119 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    Small Businesses
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Yoast
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (70 ratings)
    8.2
    (154 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    8.2
    (10 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (11 ratings)
    9.9
    (17 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AdvertisingSemrush
    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
    Semrush
    This is suited to plan for keywords in a single market, but it struggles when you need to consolidate several markets. It is well-suited to discover new keywords directly related to the ones being used currently to expand the content the company is creating to get better results.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Semrush
    • Great visuals for keyword position tracking, love that you can see the page that is ranking
    • Enjoyed the auto-generated reporting feature (specifically in the context of keyword position tracking)
    • Shows many different and useful views for competitive research
    • Great templated keyword research tools for those who are not as hands-on with SEO
    • I LOVE the Keyword Magic Tool for honing in on longtail, high-opportunity keywords
    Read full review
    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
    Semrush
    • Extra seats can be expensive, as [an] agency with multiple team members this can be frustrating
    • Backlink data is not great, misses out a lot of backlinks (better off using a specialist backlink tool like Link research tools LRT)
    • Tracking multiple keywords, across multiple clients can be costly
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    Semrush
    I [previously] used Semrush for many years and I cannot find any other tool being so complete and easy to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    Semrush
    The interface is a little less intuitive than it could be. The data is often available but filtering and manipulating the data can be a little difficult at times. Expanded comparisons would be helpful since most of the time seeing more than a few competitors at a time allows for a better sense of how to forecast.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Semrush
    Semrush available when you need it!
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Semrush
    SemRush performs well with few errors!
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    Semrush
    I'm in a FB group for Semrush paid users and it amazing! They are fast to respond, take suggestions and help with questions. I have not felt alone in using this product at all. Highly recommend their support team. When I had an issue I can jump into the group and they will help get me the right person to help or even tag their programmers to look at something that is going on. Love the group!
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Semrush
    I did it by myself and do not have a comment!
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    Semrush
    We have used both Ahrefs and Semrush extensively at our agency and Semrush remains the tool of choice. We find that Semrush has the largest selection of tools & features to use, with the highest accuracy, and provides top-tier analysis recommendations. It's really is the ultimate all-in-one tool when comparing other performance measurement tools in the digital marketing space.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Semrush
    Semrush is flexible and scalable software which can be deployed across multiple departments and sites as needed.
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    Semrush
    • Using Semrush on behalf of our clients, we have seen some impressive growth in organic visibility, traffic, conversion and revenue, across multiple industries.
    • The site checks available with Semrush have helped us to pitch and sell our services, securing new clients.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots