It is a well known fact that Google AdWords commands more than 80% of the Paid Search market share. With that being the case, is worth the time managing campaigns on Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter? This question is even more important considering the somewhat recent news that Microsoft Bing will be merging with Yahoo! Search.

Cost vs Results

One thing is for sure, keywords on Yahoo and Bing will cost a fraction of what they cost on Google. The main reason for this is that there are much less advertisers on Yahoo and Bing. This can be a benefit to you though because of the keyword bidding competition, or lack thereof.

The Big Test

The easiest thing to do is download an export from your Google account using Google AdWords Editor and upload this into the Yahoo and Microsoft consoles. They both offer the ability to convert Google campaigns.

Once your campaigns are live in the second tier engines, lower your bids and daily budgets and let the ads roll. Keep your eye on keywords that are getting way too many clicks. I’ve seen keywords which didn’t perform too well on Google, get overclicked on Yahoo and Microsoft.

Day Of Judgement

After accumulating 3-4 weeks of data, check your return on investment (ROI), if it looks like your’re making a profit, then go for it. Make sure to calculate the cost of the extra time it takes to manage a triplicate set of campaigns.

What If Yahoo! & Bing Merge?

They have already finalized the deal on paper. However, they still need to get regulatory approval, which can take a while. Even when they do get approval, they will need to integrate their two systems, which can take even longer.

Can’t Handle It?

If you can’t handle managing three sets of campaigns for Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter and Yahoo! Search Marketing, try a third party tool that gives you the ability to manage all three from within one interface. Some of the better ones are Kenshoo, Acquisio and Clickable.