This week marks phase 1 of Bing’s new ad initiative, which combines targeting for desktops and tablets.
In June, Bing announced it would make changes to targeting functionality in September. This was largely due to feedback that separating tablets and desktops added unnecessary complexity to the process. According to its research, users on tablets and desktops follow a very similar behavior pattern.
Specifically, Bing has begun migrating to unified device targeting based on the following customer pain points:
- Simplicity: Advertisers will now be able to do more, in less time.
- Efficiency: Bing has removed extra steps previously used to manage and migrate Bing Ads campaigns.
- Control: The update has provided additional control without the need to add complexity.
Updated Settings
Prior to September 15, device target settings were broken into three categories:
- Desktops and laptops
- Smartphones and other mobile devices with full browsers
- Tablet devices
Below is a screenshot of what users would see when setting up their device targeting settings:
Bing has now combined desktops, laptops and tablet devices in the Bing Ads web interface as shown below:
Additionally, these settings have been updated in Bing Ads Editor.
Impact on Campaigns
It is important advertisers check their campaigns as the tablet device targeting update may affect them.
Below is a list of the impact on campaigns, according to Bing:
Separate reporting for tablet devices will no longer be available. Once phase 2 of the migration is complete, there will also be no OS-level reports for tablet or mobile devices.
Bing has also shared that the device targeting will not affect conversion tracking, but will impact the content network.
A Bing rep did not respond to a request for comment.