• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 4, 2014

Microsoft will change how Bing Ads groups tablet device targeting to make it easier to manage campaigns. The platform in September will combine tablet targeting into the desktop and laptop category, matching Google's position on grouping mobile paid-search advertisements.

Studies show that consumers search on PCs and tablets similarly, resulting in between 15% and 20% variance in performance. Combing tablets with desktops and laptops and providing bid modifiers, advertisers will see better efficiency and reach more customers, with little or no change to their ad spend for each conversion. 

David Pann, general manager of search advertising at Microsoft, explains that Bing will continue to provide advertisers the ability to control tablet traffic with bid modifiers running from -20% to +300% on bids. Bing Ads also will continue to offer a full suite of controls for mobile, such as "if mobile" landing pages, mobile preference and bid modifiers which allow you to finely tune smartphone campaigns.

"We know that in today’s search environment, it’s about reaching the right audiences while being able to optimize your return on time spent across ad platforms," Pann wrote in a blog post. "In the first-half of 2015, we will take further steps to unify management of device targeting across campaigns by eliminating explicit mobile device targeting and utilize bid modifiers instead."

The update will give advertisers compatibility with how ad campaigns are managed across Bing Ads and Google AdWords, simplifying campaign management between platforms. But even then, advertisers who want to limit or eliminate mobile traffic can still do so through bid modifiers.

Bing continues to take paid-search and organic search market share. Earlier this week, Apple said it would add Bing as its default Web search provider, dropping Google. At the company's Worldwide Developer Conference Monday, the company unveiled several updates -- including one in Yosemite that lets users type on the desktop to search. Apple also extended Spotlight's search function to local files and Internet results.