Updated: May 2026.
TheeDigital, a certified PPC agency, explains what Microsoft Advertising is, how it compares to Google Ads, and why businesses should consider it for their paid search strategy. Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) is Microsoft’s paid search platform. It reaches 1 billion+ monthly users across Bing, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and partner networks, typically delivering 20–35% lower CPCs than Google Ads. Microsoft’s search ecosystem holds ~9% U.S. desktop search share as of 2026 — and that audience skews older, more affluent, and more educated than Google’s average user, making it especially valuable for B2B, finance, healthcare, and high-ticket consumer brands.
If you’re running paid search exclusively on Google Ads in 2026, you’re leaving a significant audience — and lower CPCs — on the table. This guide explains what Microsoft Advertising is, how it works, how it compares to Google Ads head-to-head, and how to know if it’s a fit for your business. Learn more about our PPC management services if you’d like help running both platforms.
What Is Microsoft Advertising?
Microsoft Advertising is Microsoft’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform — the equivalent of Google Ads, but running across Microsoft’s own search ecosystem. Ads created through Microsoft Advertising appear on Bing search results, Yahoo (Microsoft is the exclusive search ad provider for Verizon Media properties), AOL, MSN, Outlook.com, and across the Microsoft Audience Network.
The platform also powers ads inside Microsoft Copilot and Bing’s AI-powered chat experiences — a meaningful 2024–2026 development that has expanded Microsoft’s reach significantly. According to Microsoft Advertising’s official insights, the network reaches over 1 billion unique monthly users worldwide.
For advertisers, Microsoft Advertising offers nearly identical campaign types to Google Ads — search, shopping, display, video, and audience targeting — usually at a lower cost per click. Most businesses run Microsoft Advertising alongside Google Ads rather than as a replacement.
From Bing Ads to Microsoft Advertising
The platform has gone through several rebrands. It started as Microsoft adCenter in 2006, was renamed Bing Ads in 2012, then rebranded to Microsoft Advertising in April 2019 — a strategic shift designed to reflect the platform’s expanded reach beyond just Bing search.
The 2019 rebrand also signaled Microsoft’s pivot toward AI-driven personalization and audience targeting. Since then, the platform has integrated machine-learning bidding, expanded the Microsoft Audience Network globally, launched Sponsored Products for retail manufacturers, and — most significantly — integrated paid placements into Microsoft Copilot’s AI chat experiences starting in 2023.
Bing itself remains the consumer search brand. Microsoft Advertising is the unified ad platform that distributes across Bing and every other Microsoft-owned property.
Microsoft Advertising Audience & Reach
The Microsoft Advertising audience is meaningfully different from Google’s — and that demographic skew is one of the platform’s biggest competitive advantages. According to Microsoft’s audience intelligence data, the Microsoft Advertising audience tends to be:
- Older: 45% of Bing users are 35–64, with significantly stronger reach in the 50+ demographic than Google
- More affluent: 38% of the Bing audience has a household income over $100K (vs ~33% for Google search users)
- More educated: 50% of Bing searchers hold a college degree, with higher concentration of graduate degrees
- More likely to be in-market for B2B products: Microsoft’s professional audience (LinkedIn-integrated targeting) skews heavily toward decision-makers and IT buyers
- Disproportionately desktop users: Bing’s desktop share (~9% U.S.) is much higher than its mobile share, making it especially strong for B2B and considered-purchase categories
The platform’s exclusive integration with LinkedIn for audience targeting — by job title, function, company, or industry — is unique in the paid search space and unavailable on Google Ads. For B2B advertisers, this alone often justifies the platform.
Microsoft Ads vs Google Ads
The two platforms are competitive but not identical. Here’s how they compare head-to-head in 2026 — for a deeper breakdown, see our dedicated Google Ads vs Microsoft Advertising comparison.
| Factor | Microsoft Advertising | Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly reach | ~1 billion users | ~4.3 billion users |
| U.S. search market share | ~9% (desktop), ~3% (mobile) | ~88% |
| Average CPC (all industries) | $1.54 | $2.69 |
| Average CTR (search) | 2.83% | 3.17% |
| Audience demographics | Older, more affluent, more educated, desktop-heavy | Broadest demographic, mobile-heavy |
| LinkedIn audience targeting | Yes (exclusive) | No |
| AI chat integration | Yes (Copilot, Bing Chat) | Yes (Google AI Overviews) |
| Ad formats | Search, Shopping, Audience, Video, Sponsored Products | Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Performance Max, Demand Gen |
| Import from competitor | Yes — native Google Ads importer | No native Microsoft Ads importer |
| Best for | B2B, finance, healthcare, professional services, supplementary spend | Primary search platform, broadest reach |
Quick read: Google Ads should remain your primary platform for sheer volume. Microsoft Advertising is the high-leverage second platform — same campaigns, lower CPCs, and access to audience segments you can’t reach anywhere else. The native Google Ads importer also means most accounts can be replicated on Microsoft Advertising in under an hour.
Microsoft Advertising Costs & CPCs
Microsoft Advertising is consistently cheaper than Google Ads, with industry-wide CPCs running 20–35% lower across most verticals. According to WordStream’s annual paid search benchmarks, the average CPC on Microsoft Advertising in 2026 sits at $1.54 versus $2.69 on Google Ads.
The biggest cost advantages tend to be in high-CPC industries:
- Legal: Microsoft Ads avg. CPC $4.20 vs Google Ads $6.75 (~38% lower)
- Insurance: $2.95 vs $4.41 (~33% lower)
- B2B / SaaS: $2.10 vs $3.33 (~37% lower)
- Finance: $2.85 vs $3.77 (~24% lower)
- E-commerce / Retail: $0.85 vs $1.16 (~27% lower)
There’s no minimum spend to run Microsoft Advertising — you can start with a few dollars a day. Most businesses see meaningful results at $500–$2,000/mo in ad spend, though heavily competitive verticals will need more to compete.
Ad Formats on Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising supports nearly every ad format Google Ads does, plus a few unique ones:
- Search Ads: Text ads on Bing, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and partner search results
- Shopping Ads: Product feed-based ads with image, price, and merchant info, comparable to Google Shopping
- Microsoft Audience Network: Native display ads on MSN, Outlook.com, and partner sites (Reuters, The Atlantic, USA Today, Fox News, etc.)
- Video Ads: In-stream and out-stream video placements across the Microsoft Audience Network
- Sponsored Products: Lets manufacturers promote products in retail partner shopping campaigns, unique to Microsoft
- Connected TV (CTV) Ads: Streaming video placements via Xandr (Microsoft-owned)
- Microsoft Copilot Ads: Native sponsored placements inside Microsoft’s AI chat, launched 2024
When Microsoft Advertising Makes Sense
Microsoft Advertising is rarely the only paid search platform a business should run. It’s almost always a complement to Google Ads. The question is whether it earns a slice of your PPC budget — and for most businesses, the answer is yes.
Strong fit:
- B2B companies targeting decision-makers (LinkedIn audience targeting is the killer feature)
- Financial services, legal, insurance, healthcare, where CPCs on Google are punishing and the older Bing audience matches the buyer
- High-ticket consumer brands, luxury goods, premium home services, vehicles
- Businesses with maxed-out Google Ads spend looking for additional reach at lower CPCs
- E-commerce stores running Google Shopping, Microsoft Shopping campaigns can be imported in minutes
Weaker fit:
- Mobile-first consumer brands, Bing’s mobile share is small, so a mobile-app or Gen Z-targeted product gets diminishing returns
- Very small budgets (<$300/mo) where the second platform’s overhead isn’t worth the incremental clicks
- Markets where Bing has near-zero share (some emerging markets, check Microsoft’s regional reach data first)
How to Get Started with Microsoft Advertising
Getting started is straightforward, especially if you already run Google Ads:
- Create an account at ads.microsoft.com using your business email
- Import from Google Ads, Microsoft has a native importer that copies campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, and budgets in one click. Most accounts are live within an hour.
- Adjust bids, Microsoft’s CPCs are lower, so your imported bids will likely be too high. Reduce bids by 25–35% and let the algorithm rebalance.
- Layer in LinkedIn targeting (if B2B), add job function, industry, or company-name targeting at the campaign or ad group level
- Set up conversion tracking with the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag
- Monitor and optimize, Microsoft’s reporting is less mature than Google’s, so set aside a regular optimization cadence
If you’re running both Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, working with a certified PPC agency is often the best path, managing both platforms in parallel requires twice the time but rarely costs twice the management fee at an agency. See our PPC management services for what that looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions About Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising is Microsoft’s pay-per-click ad platform, formerly known as Bing Ads. It distributes ads across Bing, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, Outlook.com, the Microsoft Audience Network, and Microsoft Copilot’s AI chat. The platform reaches over 1 billion unique users monthly worldwide and holds approximately 9% of U.S. desktop search market share. Microsoft Advertising offers nearly the same campaign types as Google Ads — search, shopping, display, and video — typically at 20–35% lower CPCs.
Yes. Microsoft Advertising is the current name of the platform formerly called Bing Ads. The platform was renamed in April 2019 to reflect its expanded distribution beyond just Bing — it now includes Yahoo, AOL, MSN, the Microsoft Audience Network, and Microsoft Copilot. Bing itself still exists as the consumer search engine, but the ad platform is now branded Microsoft Advertising.
For most businesses, both, not either. Google Ads delivers significantly more reach (~4.3 billion monthly users vs ~1 billion), making it the primary platform. Microsoft Advertising delivers 20–35% lower CPCs and access to an older, more affluent, more educated audience, making it an excellent complementary platform. B2B advertisers especially benefit from Microsoft’s exclusive LinkedIn audience targeting. The recommended approach is to run both, with Google Ads receiving 70–85% of budget and Microsoft Advertising 15–30%.
The average CPC across all industries on Microsoft Advertising in 2026 is $1.54, compared to $2.69 on Google Ads, roughly 43% lower on average. CPCs vary significantly by industry: legal averages $4.20, insurance $2.95, B2B/SaaS $2.10, finance $2.85, and retail/e-commerce $0.85. High-CPC industries see the biggest savings, often 30–40% lower than Google Ads equivalents.
Yes, most small businesses should run Microsoft Advertising alongside Google Ads, particularly if their target customer skews older, more affluent, or B2B. The low CPCs make it easier to test paid search on a small budget, and the native Google Ads importer means existing campaigns can be replicated in under an hour. Small businesses on very small budgets (under $300/month) may want to focus on Google Ads first, then add Microsoft Advertising once they have enough budget to support both platforms.
Yes. Microsoft Advertising integrates with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for cross-platform reporting, and uses its own Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag for conversion tracking. Most businesses set up both: GA4 for unified marketing reporting and UET for real-time bid optimization inside the Microsoft Advertising platform.
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Tags: Paid Search Marketing
Richard Horvath
Richard Horvath is the founder of TheeDigital, a Raleigh based award-winning web design and digital marketing agency. He is proud of his team and the results that they provide to their clients.
