TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    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

    WordStream

    Score6.9 out of 10
    N/AWordstream, the eponymous offering from the company in Boston, MA, provides a free tool for analyzing performance "grading" an Adwords campaign, beyond which, Wordstream Advisor provides (for a fee, though a free trial is available) recommendations to optimize a paid advertising campaign on Google, Bing, and Yahoo! search engines, and place ads. Beyond the platform, Wordstream also offers full account management services, for outsourcing one's campaign, and white labeling for…N/A

    X Ads

    Score4.9 out of 10
    N/AFormerly Twitter Ads, X Ads is a search engine marketing tool built around features such as objective-based campaigns, promoted trends, and in-depth analytics.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    Free Trial
    NoYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    Considered Multiple Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    Microsoft is the best if you want to target the USA business; it has a great standing against these other platforms.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    Bing is definitely most comparable to Google; in terms of audience sizes, it has about 30% of the traffic that Google Ads can drive; however, its costs are much more efficient, and this additional inventory is less competitive. Additionally, Bing has some features not available …
    Incentivized
    Gannett
    Chose WordStream
    I haven't used any other products like Wordstream in the past.
    Incentivized
    SpaceX
    Chose X Ads
    Since the number of fake users is more on Facebook or any other social media panels than Twitter, Twitter platform marks the best platform to connect with potential clients. Although Facebook has more users than Twitter, Twitter gives better and potential clients. Targeted by …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    68%
    Would buy again
    21 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    75%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    70%
    Delivers good value for the price
    21 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    65%
    Happy with the feature set
    20 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    75%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Microsoft Advertising and WordStream and X Ads
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.5
    6 Ratings
    0% above category average
    WordStream
    -
    Ratings
    X Ads
    -
    Ratings
    Ad campaign creation8.06 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad deployment8.36 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Display advertising6.46 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation6.46 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sequence targeting5.95 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Contextual advertising5.56 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social advertising4.95 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Microsoft Advertising and WordStream and X Ads
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.6
    8 Ratings
    4% below category average
    WordStream
    -
    Ratings
    X Ads
    -
    Ratings
    Ad dashboards6.28 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad performance reports6.87 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking7.36 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting7.06 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization5.85 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Auctions
    Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Microsoft Advertising and WordStream and X Ads
    Feature
    Microsoft Advertising
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    14% below category average
    WordStream
    -
    Ratings
    X Ads
    -
    Ratings
    Ad bidding7.37 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    Small Businesses
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Google Ads
    Score8.3 out of 10
    LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Acquisio
    Score9 out of 10
    LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (70 ratings)
    9.1
    (23 ratings)
    1.0
    (37 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (11 ratings)
    9.6
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AdvertisingWordStreamX Ads
    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
    Gannett
    Do you currently use Google AdWords to drive new business for your website? Then you need WordStream. The best scenario where it has helped me is time. I used to spend easily 20 hours a week analyzing data, making minor changes, adjusting budgets, trying to just master Google AdWords! But now I'm able to spend maybe 2-3 hours a week on Google AdWords and put the rest of my attention on other responsibilities. WordStream has mastered making my time more efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    I highly recommend Twitter Ads for users looking to establish a strong online presence on the platform and the digital sphere. While a little on the expensive side, the payoff, in the long run, is quite remarkable especially that Twitter Ads will show your content to all the followers gained (while other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, use algorithms that might place your daily content lower or won't even show them to your fans)..
    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
    Gannett
    • Definitely go with a consultant. It amazed me how quickly our consultant was able to understand our business and what we sell. He was the best resource for our newly-digitized marketing team.
    • The negative keywords section was a hugely helpful tool. It saved us from so much unnecessary spend while making it easy to add negatives.
    • How quickly changes implemented were updated on AdWords was amazing. It's live, so no lag and unnecessary spend.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    • Twitter Ads, just like every form of internet ads, enable us to target users based on their geographical location. This has been very vital for occasions when we are trying to raise awareness about new products specifically tailored for customers and clients from a particular location.
    • Twitter Ads is significantly more cost effective than traditional adverts we run on mainstream TV stations and newspapers, especially since most of our campaigns majorly target the younger generation. Of this group, we are aware that the younger generation in South Africa spend more time on the internet than they ever do sitting behind their TV set or even reading newspapers.
    • Twitter Ads makes it possible to engage live with Twitter users as they view our ad campaigns. This allows us to clarify information , respond to questions and even qualify leads while our campaign is running. This obviously is not possible with traditional mediums of advertisement.
    Incentivized
    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
    Gannett
    • While the basic tools are pretty simple to use, the platform is actually pretty expansive and I don't feel like I've taken advantage of it (yet) as much as I could. It does require some training to get up to speed.
    • Support for Display ad campaigns is limited - this is mainly used as a way to optimize Search campaigns.
    • Reporting. I find the reporting setup to be a bit confusing and still rely on other sources for building out reports on our Adwords performance (Adwords itself and Google Analytics).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    • Limitation of characters to only 140.
    • While the targeting of Twitter is relevant most of the time, it is not always right and there are some ads that are completely unrelated to the search terms entered.
    • Not as many users as Facebook.
    Incentivized
    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
    Gannett
    Affordable, useful, informative, easy to use, continually updating and staying current
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    Twitter ads are not the best way for people to promote things because they do not pop out enough on people's feeds.
    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
    Gannett
    No answers on this topic
    SpaceX
    Just not for my company and me. Bad environment with too many bots and AI things going on. It isn't worth my while to pay to do anything on this site. I will continue to post for free for the exposure. I hope the company sells and gets better. Need to verify people are real.
    Incentivized
    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
    Gannett
    I have not had any experience with the customer support team for platform issues, but the account representative checks in with us often and is always available to answer questions. We will usually get on quarterly review calls so that she can share any new updates to the platform and answer questions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Gannett
    WordStream is a little different from the competition. There are much more expensive solutions that manage the account for you with more features (Kenshoo, Marin, etc) and there are cheaper solutions out there that offer some of the features that WordStream provides; however, if a marketer wants to personally manage an account with some aided help than WordStream provides a great, cost-effective solution
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    Facebook Ads, Adwords, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube all have ad channels you can use to advertise your product. Some are even tied together. Twitter occupies a part of the market which can be difficult to get right. Mostly, we select other channels for better targeting, cheaper leads, and a better fit for the campaigns we were trying to run. However, there are scenarios in which using Twitter Ads can get you big wins.
    Incentivized
    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
    Gannett
    • I've already noted the time savings that WordStream has provided - at leats 5 hours a week (and I like to think that my time is pretty expensive/worth it).
    • Wordstream has paid for itself already, simply in removing junk from our AdWords account - junk keywords, junk AdWords groups, junk matching.
    • I think we'll find, over more time, that Wordstream will continue to provide outstanding value in dropping our CPA - once Google register sthe lack of junk, our CPC will continue to go down.
    Read full review
    SpaceX
    • One Positive Impact has been that having ads running has increased the number of followers we have on Twitter.
    • Another positive impact is that due to having more followers, we now have more visits to our site.
    • A mixed impact would be that positively, since we have Adwords implemented as well, we can track back the source of our website traffic to being from a social source like Twitter. The negative of it is that Twitter ads does not have the tracking capability and we still need Google Adwords to do so.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots