Something strange is up with Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Users are reporting that when they click on sponsored search results they’re getting an error page saying the web page is not available.
It looks as though the ads are linked using tracking URLs (similar to the “rover” affiliate code that eBay use). The server that should redirect from the tracking URL to the correct destination website appears to have gone missing for some users, although as there are multiple mirrored servers around the world not everyone is experiencing the error.
It must be costing Microsoft a fair amount in lost revenue though, not to mention credibility with their advertisers and future revenue. Clicking links just to find that they’re broken is about the worst possible user experience.
Is Bing working for you and does clicking on sponsored ads send you to the correct destination site or are you getting error messages? If you’re an advertiser have you seen a drop in traffic from Bing this afternoon or are the majority of the clicks you pay for still sending you traffic?
3 Responses
A problem with a Microsoft product?
Extraordinary!
Yes bing is working for me.
I love the headline, Chris 😛