Most businesses running paid search advertising have a Google Ads account. Far fewer have a Microsoft Advertising account — and that gap is exactly where the opportunity sits. Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) reaches a genuinely large audience across Bing, Microsoft Edge, Yahoo, and a network of partner sites, often at a cost per click that makes Google look expensive by comparison.
Microsoft Advertising is not a replacement for Google — it is not, and should not be treated as one. Google's search volume is still significantly larger. But treating Microsoft Advertising as a secondary channel not worth the effort is a mistake that hands your competitors cheaper clicks and an audience they're not competing for nearly as hard.
The Audience Is More Valuable Than You Think
One of the most consistent findings about Microsoft Advertising audiences is that they skew older, more professional, and have higher average household incomes than typical Google searchers. For businesses selling professional services, B2B products, financial services, or higher-ticket consumer goods, this demographic profile is genuinely valuable — and it's an audience that Microsoft Advertising reaches at scale, not a niche sliver. If your product or service appeals to decision-makers and professionals, ignoring Microsoft Advertising means ignoring a disproportionately qualified pool of potential customers.
Lower Competition Means Lower CPCs
Since fewer advertisers run Microsoft Advertising campaigns, the auction for most keywords is less competitive. This typically translates directly into lower cost per click — sometimes 20–40% lower than equivalent Google Ads keywords — without a proportional drop in conversion rate. The intent behind a search on Bing is still intent; someone searching "accounting software for small business" on Bing is just as likely to be a genuine buyer as someone searching the same phrase on Google. Microsoft Advertising lets you reach that buyer for less.
Setting Up Microsoft Advertising Properly
The fastest way to get started with Microsoft Advertising is to import an existing Google Ads campaign directly — Microsoft's import tool handles most of the heavy lifting. But importing without reviewing and adapting the campaign for Bing's specific audience and search behaviour is a shortcut that limits performance from day one. Keyword match types behave slightly differently, audience demographics differ by industry, and Bing's own algorithm rewards quality signals in ways that aren't identical to Google's. A proper Microsoft Advertising setup treats the platform on its own terms rather than just running a copy of another campaign.
Conversion Tracking Matters Just as Much
Everything that applies to conversion tracking on Google Ads applies equally on Microsoft Advertising — without accurate tracking of what constitutes a real business outcome (a phone call, a form submission, a purchase), the platform's automated bidding strategies have nothing meaningful to optimise toward. Microsoft Advertising's UET (Universal Event Tracking) tag is straightforward to implement via Microsoft Clarity or Tag Manager, and getting it right from launch is worth the setup time.
Microsoft Advertising and Google Ads Together
The strongest paid search strategies use both platforms deliberately — not just because two audiences are better than one, but because the data from one platform often informs strategy on the other. Keywords that convert exceptionally well on Microsoft Advertising but face brutal competition on Google can be scaled up on Bing without the same cost pressure. Conversely, learnings from a mature Google Ads account give you a significant head start on building a Microsoft Advertising account that doesn't spend its first months learning what not to do.
An Underrated Lever Worth Pulling
Microsoft Advertising is genuinely underused by most businesses, and that's unlikely to change quickly — which makes now a good time to take it seriously. Lower competition, lower CPCs, a high-value audience demographic, and the ability to import and adapt from existing Google Ads campaigns means the barrier to entry is lower than most people assume. For businesses already running paid search, adding Microsoft Advertising to the mix is one of the more straightforward ways to expand reach without simply increasing spend on a more crowded platform.
If you've been putting Microsoft Advertising in the "maybe later" category, later might already be costing you more than you realise.
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