Microsoft’s Senior Program Manager Shamit Patel posted in an official blog that Location Extensions is now available in adCenter. The new ads feature enables local business advertisers in Bing and Yahoo! to display their contact details on the search engine results. Contact information such as phone number and address will appear in their text ads. This element is the same with Google AdWords’ Location Extensions.

Achieving Feature Parity with Google AdWords

Based on the blog, the Location Extensions is free and easy to set up in adCenter. In fact, the interface for adding your business’ contact information is pretty straightforward. The new ad feature is part of the adCenter’s plan to achieve feature parity with Google AdWords. The only feature that distinguishes Microsoft from the search engine giant is its Business Icon. The icon appears with the ads that appear on Yahoo!.

According to product managers Shamit Patel, Peter Yang, Erin Zefkeles and Corinne Woodward, adCenter’s Location Extensions was created to make it easy for search engine advertisers to copy their ad campaigns from Google AdWords. Moreover, this feature will allow local businesses to connect with their local customer.

Listed below are more details about adCenter’s Location Extensions:

• As of the moment, Location Extensions will not be visible on Bing and Yahoo!’s syndicated search partners. However, the adCenter is looking for ways on how the feature will be available on other related platforms in the future.
• Drawing your business listing from Bing Business Portal is not necessary.
• It’s possible to set up the Bing Business Portal as a landing page for ads with Location Extensions if desired.
• Microsoft doesn’t offer their own phone call tracking service, although advertisers can provision their ads with traceable numbers.

Location Extensions’ Effect in Click-through Rate and Interaction

When asked if they’re not worried that Location Extensions can decrease click-through interactions and Microsoft’s revenue, the product managers replied that it’ll not be the case. Based on the initial research that the adCenter team conducted, local information such as contact number and address makes the ads appear more relevant to the user. Thus, it increases an ads’ click-through rate and overall engagement by 8–16%.

The Location Extensions feature is a great addition to adCenter’s local search advertising tools. Once integrated in search engine ads, this will enable local businesses to increase their CTR and store visits. By including their contact information on ads, brands will likely to appear more relevant and approachable for users.