MELLEKA MARKETING

Bing Prospects Investigation

St Joseph Medical Corp | Feb 17 - Mar 18, 2026 | Both Accounts

Key Finding: Why Prospects Show as "Bing"

The Answer: Google Search Partners Network STJ is NOT running Bing Ads. The "Bing" prospects are coming through Google Ads' Search Partners network, which includes Bing, AOL, Ask.com, and dozens of other search engines. When Google PMax and Search campaigns have "Search Partners" enabled (which is the default), your ads appear on these third-party search engines. Leads coming from Bing are actually Google Ads leads served via the Search Partners syndication.

How It Works

Google Ads has a setting called "Include Google search partners" that's enabled by default on both Search and Performance Max campaigns. This means your ads can appear on:

When a prospect clicks your ad on Bing through this syndication, their browser referrer shows "bing.com" — making it look like you're running Bing Ads when you're actually just benefiting from Google's partner network.

Search Partners Spend Breakdown

V2 Account (5143493594) — Search Partners Traffic

Partners Spend
$133.99
1.5% of total $9,076
Partners Clicks
95
2.7% of total 3,550
Partners Conversions
4
$33.50 CPA
Partners Impressions
1,118
1.3% of total
Campaign Network Clicks Spend Conv. CPA
PMax | General Search Partners 77 $119.69 4 $29.92
PMax | General | NEW SITE Search Partners 16 $14.02 0
Search | Website Form Submission Search Partners 2 $0.28 0
V2 TOTAL (Search Partners) 95 $133.99 4 $33.50
V2 Search Partners: Converting at $29.92/lead The V2 PMax | General campaign is actually generating conversions from Search Partners at $29.92/conversion — which is LOWER than the overall campaign CPA of $25.01. This means Bing/partner traffic is performing comparably to Google Search traffic. These are legitimate, converting leads.

Primary Account (2132096417) — Search Partners Traffic

Campaign Network Clicks Spend Conv.
PMax | FreeStyle Libre 3 Search Partners 42 $20.58 0
SJC - Dexcom Performance Search Partners 6 $5.56 0
L3S - PM Brand Focus - Ocala Search Partners 7 $5.00 0
SJM - Blood Glucose Search Partners 0 $0.00 0
SJC - Dexcom Search Campaign Search Partners 0 $0.00 0
Primary TOTAL (Search Partners) 55 $31.14 0
Primary Account Search Partners: $31 Spend, 0 Conversions The primary account's Search Partners traffic isn't converting. However, the spend is minimal ($31 over 30 days). This is typical — the primary account's PMax campaigns have broader targeting and less conversion optimization than V2. Not a concern given the low spend.

Full Network Distribution (Both Accounts Combined)

V2 Account — Where Your Budget Goes

Google Search$8,405 (92.6%)
SEARCH
YouTube$255 (2.8%)
YOUTUBE
Content/Display$283 (3.1%)
DISPLAY
Search Partners (Bing + others)$134 (1.5%)
PARTNERS

Primary Account — Where Your Budget Goes

Google Search$624 (41.1%)
SEARCH
Content/Display (PMax)$625 (41.2%)
DISPLAY
YouTube$236 (15.6%)
YOUTUBE
Search Partners (Bing + others)$31 (2.1%)
PARTNERS
Primary Account Network Concern: 41% on Display/Content The primary account is spending 41% of its budget on the Content/Display network through PMax — and getting 0 conversions from it. This is a bigger concern than the Bing traffic. The V2 account is much better optimized with 93% going to Search.

Recommendations

INFORMATIONAL
Bing Prospects Are Legitimate Google Ads Leads

No action required to "fix" the Bing source — these are valid leads coming through Google's Search Partners network. They show as "bing" in your CRM/analytics because the click originated from Bing's search engine, but the ad was served and paid for through Google Ads. Your Google Ads spend already covers these.

HIGH PRIORITY
V2 Search Partners: Keep Enabled — They're Converting

The V2 account's Search Partners traffic is generating 4 conversions at $29.92/lead. This is competitive with Google Search performance. Keep Search Partners enabled on V2 campaigns. These Bing leads are a bonus channel within your existing Google Ads budget.

MEDIUM PRIORITY
Primary Account: Consider Excluding Search Partners on Underperforming Campaigns

The primary account spent $31 on Search Partners with 0 conversions. While the amount is small, you could exclude Search Partners on specific campaigns (like L3S - PM Brand Focus - Ocala, which spent $5 on partners with 0 conversions) to redirect that budget to Google Search. However, $31/month is negligible — only worth changing if you're micro-optimizing.

URGENT — BIGGER ISSUE
Primary Account: 41% Spend on Content/Display with 0 Conversions

The real issue isn't Bing — it's that the primary account's PMax campaigns are spending $625 (41% of budget) on the Content/Display network with zero conversions. This is 20x more wasted spend than Search Partners. Consider restructuring PMax campaigns to limit Display/YouTube placements, or shift more budget to the V2 account which is far better optimized.

MEDIUM PRIORITY
Track Source in CRM

To properly identify which leads came from Bing vs Google Search, ensure your CRM captures the UTM parameters or referrer data. Google Ads auto-tags clicks with a gclid — if your form captures this, you can differentiate Google Search leads from Google Search Partners (Bing) leads by checking the network type in Google Ads reports.

Quick Reference: Search Partners (Bing) Impact

Metric V2 Account Primary Account Combined
Search Partners Spend $133.99 $31.14 $165.13
% of Total Spend 1.5% 2.1% 1.6%
Search Partners Clicks 95 55 150
Search Partners Conversions 4 0 4
Search Partners CPA $33.50 n/a $41.28
Verdict Keep — Converting Monitor — Low Impact No Action Needed