Bing announced a couple weeks ago that they have removed the search text ads from the side bar of their search results. Bing wrote “we have decided to remove sidebar text ads on our Bing inventory in the United States on March 26th, with international markets testing to follow at a later time.”
Bing said this will lead to “overall click gains for our advertisers.” Bing added these changes include:
- Text Ads will no longer be served on the sidebar, while Product Ads will continue to be served on the sidebar.
- Bottom of the page (BOP) ads increase from 3 ads to 4 ads. Moreover, BOP ads allow for richer ad formats, which sidebar ads didn’t.
- This change applies to the Bing SERP only. No impact for syndication partners including Yahoo and AOL.
Truth is, I still see sidebar ads on Bing. Maybe it is a slow roll out? I am not the only one, the folks at WebmasterWorld also notice sidebar ads for most searches that trigger ads.
Here is an example: