Bing tackles Apple anti-tracking feature; launches audience segmentation

Bing has rolled out two updates that aim to help position its paid search offering on an equal, if not greater, footing than Google AdWords.

Tackling Apple

In the aftermath of Apple rolling out Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) in September, Google promptly got to work and unveiled the Google Analytics cookie in the same month.

ITP prevents websites from tracking users' browsing habits without their permission. It rolled out to iOS 11 and Safari 11 in macOS, thereby impacting companies with campaign analytics in their suite.

Better late than never, Bing has announced it too has a workaround, referred to as Click IDs, which must be enabled in the URL options in the Shared Library, and in doing so automatically tag the desination URLs with the Microsoft Click ID.

Analytics Update

In unrelated news, advertisers that use Bing will now have access to Audience Segmentation reporting, providing an easier avenue to compare the impact of ads against users who were not directed via paid media.

Similar to the audience tab on Google Analytics 360, the segmentation tab on Bing Ads will give advertisers the ability to view audiences by category or assigned names, with a web interface that shows account summary, ad groups, ads, keywords, extensions and campaigns.

This the latest in a string of updates within Bing that are catching up to Google Analytics 360, including

1. Integration with Oracle's DMP
2. The ability to import sales data,
3. The ability to optimize bids under Adobe Advertising Cloud.

According to Nan Ling, a program manager for Bing Ads at Microsoft, the update will be available globally this month.