Why You Should Put Focus on the Yahoo Microsoft Network

Google recently announced Website Call Conversions (GWCC), giving Google Ads (formerly AdWords) users the ability to track online phone call conversions. You may be inclined to take them up on this offering since most searches, 67% according to comScore’s July report, are conducted on Google, but you might be surprised to know how much your online strategy may benefit from using the Yahoo! Microsoft Network (YBN).

Yahoo! Microsoft Network Has Exclusive Audience, Ready to Buy:

Although it doesn’t drive a much traffic as Google – YBN accounts for 30% of searches – and that’s not just something to shrug off. In fact, when the Yahoo! Microsoft Network (YBN) first made its way on the search engine marketing scene in 2012, they released a video including stats from comScore research that showed just how large and valuable the YBN search audience was: YBN reaches 151 million unique searchers, YBN searchers are likely to spend 24% more than the average internet searcher, and 5.4% more than Google searcher, plus 46 million Yahoo Microsoft users don’t use Google – so the only way to reach them is through YBN.

YBN has Lower Cost Per Click:

According to the “Yahoo! Microsoft PPC Performance Metrics” report by AdGooroo, Microsoft and Yahoo have lower cost per click across the six main verticals that account for the majority of total search traffic:

The same study also found that there are 36% fewer active search marketers on YBN to bid against compared to Google, meaning less competition for search engine page results.

Yahoo! Microsoft Has Higher Call Conversion Rate:

We took a sample of 2.2 million search visitors through March 2014, and found that of the website visitors who call your number, Microsoft and Yahoo PPC have similar conversion rates to Google PPC, with Microsoft Organic visitors being 57% more likely to call than Google Visitors.

What This Means for PPC Marketers

Using Google Ads is a no-brainer when it comes to driving more traffic to your site, but if you’re not using or tracking paid advertising through Yahoo and Microsoft, you could be missing out on lower cost per click, higher call conversion rates, and an audience you can’t reach through Ads.