Microsoft is said to be engaging in talks with advertising agencies about monetizing the new AI-powered Bing search engine.
Reuters reports that the company demoed the new Bing to an unnamed "major ad agency" and has been testing ads on the Bing chat feature.
- According to Reuters sources, Microsoft reps described plans to add paid links within AI Bing's answers to search queries.
- The company is said to be incorporating traditional search ads into the Bing chatbot's responses.
- The talks with ad agencies are reportedly still in the "early stages."
- When it first announced AI Bing last week, Microsoft already acknowledged that it is expected to "deliver even more relevant messages to consumers," aiming to improve ROI for advertisers.
- In Microsoft's Advertising blog, CVP Rob Wilk wrote that the company expects to see greater volume as Bing usage grows, "leading to more opportunities for advertisers to reach their desired customers."
- Microsoft is already drawing millions to the waitlist for the new search engine, which it plans to roll out more broadly in the coming weeks.
- The influx of new users is expected to lead to greater ad exposure and boost Microsoft's competition in the search advertising market dominated by Google.
