{"id":40882,"date":"2016-06-13T12:32:47","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T19:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/?p=40882"},"modified":"2016-06-14T12:32:47","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T19:32:47","slug":"bing-ads-microsoft-acquires-linkedin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/bing-ads-microsoft-acquires-linkedin\/","title":{"rendered":"Szetela’s Scoop! Microsoft’s LinkedIn News May Imply More than LinkedIn Ad Integration for Bing Advertisers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft\u2019s announced acquisition of LinkedIn today has already sent ripples through the PPC SEM advertising<\/a> industry. Marketers are predicting (or hoping) that the LinkedIn ad platform will be merged with Bing Ads<\/a>, allowing PPC advertisers to run Bing Ads and LinkedIn ad campaigns from the same dashboard.<\/p>\n

I think the acquisition could actually be the cornerstone of an important new Bing Ads strategy: the creation and expansion of a Microsoft Display Network.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"microsoft-ad-network-linkedin\"<\/p>\n

Urgent Push for a Microsoft Display Network<\/h2>\n

Microsoft has never been a major player in display advertising. Currently, Bing Ads advertisers can place text ads on Microsoft\u2019s owned and operated sites (like MSN Money), but that\u2019s just a handful of sites, and targeting options are limited to rudimentary demographics.<\/p>\n

Facebook and Google display advertising, on the other hand, account for billions in revenue for those two dominant players. Flexible hypertargeting capabilities have helped advertisers finally reap ROIs that rival those obtainable through search advertising.<\/p>\n

Two recent developments underscore Microsoft\u2019s sense of urgency:<\/p>\n

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  1. First, Google just announced that they\u2019re expanding their display network (already reaching, they say, 90 percent of all internet users) by the addition of Cross-Exchange Buying inventory.<\/li>\n
  2. Secondly, Facebook has been quietly building the size of its Facebook Audience Network to include people and sites outside<\/em> the set of Facebook users. And they recently announced a new feature that will let advertisers target an even bigger audience<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    3\u00a0Moves for Microsoft to Rival Google & Facebook<\/h2>\n

    Look for Microsoft to muscle its way in and grab a big slice of the display ads pie. I see three big moves by Microsoft ahead:<\/p>\n