Microsoft kicks off huge Bing ad push

CNet News June 3, 2009 8:41 AM PDT

Microsoft faces several tough problems in trying to market Bing, its revamped search engine.

The first issue, is of course, that Google has become essentially synonymous with search.

"Google is so much a part of everyday culture," aid Danielle Tiedt, general manager for marketing in Microsoft's online unit. "It is the verb. If you talk about search you talk about Google."

The second issue, also a thorny one, is that people tend to think they are pretty happy with search. When they have problems, they tend not to blame their search engine or look for alternatives, Tiedt said.

"We know there is this latent dissatisfaction in the search market," Tiedt said. "When people don't get right search result they thing it's their fault."

Microsoft's huge TV ad campaign, which kicks off on Wednesday, aims to put a name to the problem and pitch Bing as the answer.

"A big part of the campaign is 'It's not just you'," Tiedt said. The ads will run first on CBS' "CSI: New York" and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance." (Disclosure: CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.)

Bing started to be publicly available on Monday, but officially launches Wednesday, following months of development and internal testing. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off the company's effort last week at the D: All Things Digital event in Carlsbad, Calif.

Microsoft isn't saying just how much it is spending on the ad campaign, though advertising trade magazines have estimated it at between $80 million and $100 million.

"Obviously, we are spending a significant amount of money," Tiedt said. "We're trying to get entered into the conversation of search. We are spending enough money that people (will) have heard of us."

• Read More »

© Copyright 2009 iLeadPay.com. All rights reserved.