• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 5, 2014

Microsoft has overhauled the user interface for the Bing Ads paid-search platform and will begin rolling out the new version this week to a handful of marketers. The latest in a series of planned updates are intended to provide easy access to tools and links, shared libraries, and trend charts full of data and multiple types of metrics. It also will provide more intuitive proposals in the Opportunities tab. Users will see the new look for Bing Ads after signing in.

The features should improve the performance of Bing Ads, David Pann, Microsoft GM, search advertising, told Search Marketing Dailyduring an interview in July. Pann said that throughout the 2015 fiscal year the focus remains on innovation and testing to make Bing Ads more efficient and easier to use. "We've seen double-digit [revenue per search] growth," he said. "We're extremely pleased with what we've seen."

Not only has Microsoft seen significant RPS growth in paid-search ad results, but also performance in how Bing powers Cortana, Microsoft's personal assistant for Windows, since being integrated into the operating system. "When I started four years ago I was walking around with an iPhone and iPad at Microsoft," he said. "I didn't have that Windows religion. Cortana is awesome. I travel a lot. It asks me, 'Hey David, do you want to track your flight from San Jose to Seattle next Tuesday?'"

Similar to the way Bing powers predictions in Cortana, the algorithms also power the performance in Bing Ads. The changes are based on user feedback, Pann said -- and include consolidating the options for Bing Ads Tools into one location, rather than directing the marketers to separate pages for various tools. Import options were consolidated into one drop-down location.

Dare Obasanjo, Bing Ads group program manager, in a blog post, explains that all links related to user accounts have been moved under the Gear icon to make it consistent with modern Web design patterns. "It's here that you can modify user settings, again, in one easy-to-access location. Specific links that have moved include Accounts and Billing, User Settings and Help," Obasanjo writes. "To ensure you don’t feel lost, the first time you sign-in after getting the new look, pop-up notifications will indicate key places where navigational changes have occurred."

The new Bing interface also will offer shared libraries, keyword lists that marketers can share across campaigns and ad groups. Multi-metric trend charts will show marketers campaign performance at a glance. Marketers also can expect a Change History page with an undo function that provides a visual picture of how the changes impact campaign performance.

Filtering by user will make the change type filter more visible by placing it above the grid, as well as overlaying the change history bubbles on the performance trend graphs, per Obasanjo.