What Is Microsoft Advertising And Should You Run It Alongside Google Ads

When most businesses think about paid search advertising, Google Ads is the first and often only platform that comes to mind. That is entirely understandable given that Google holds the majority of global search engine market share, but focusing exclusively on Google means you could be overlooking a platform that quietly delivers strong results for a fraction of the competition. Microsoft Advertising, formerly known as Bing Ads, is a paid search platform that deserves far more attention than it typically receives, and if you are currently running Google Ads, the question of whether to run Microsoft Advertising alongside it is one worth exploring seriously.

What Is Microsoft Advertising?

Microsoft Advertising is the pay-per-click advertising platform operated by Microsoft that allows businesses to display ads across the Bing search engine, as well as across a broader network that includes Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft-owned properties such as MSN and Outlook. In terms of how it works at a fundamental level, it operates in very much the same way as Google Ads. You bid on keywords, write ad copy, set budgets, define your targeting, and your ads appear when users search for relevant terms. The mechanics are familiar, which is one of the reasons that advertisers who already have Google Ads experience tend to find the transition across to Microsoft Advertising relatively straightforward.

The platform has grown considerably in recent years, and Microsoft has invested heavily in making it a compelling choice for advertisers. Features such as audience targeting, shopping campaigns, and remarketing are all available, and the interface has become significantly more intuitive. Microsoft also introduced integration with LinkedIn profile data for targeting purposes, which is a capability that Google simply cannot offer and one that makes Microsoft Advertising particularly valuable for B2B advertisers.

Who Is Actually Searching on Bing?

This is the question that often gets raised when the topic of Microsoft Advertising comes up, and it is a fair one. The assumption is that Bing users are a small and largely irrelevant audience, but that assumption does not hold up particularly well when you look at the fuller picture. Bing powers a significant number of searches globally, and in certain markets, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, its reach is more substantial than many advertisers realise.

The demographic profile of Bing users also tends to skew slightly older and more affluent compared to the average Google user. There is a higher proportion of desktop searches on Bing, which often correlates with professional environments, and many of those searches come from users who simply have not changed the default search engine on their Windows device or who actively choose Bing for their own reasons. For businesses targeting decision-makers, professionals, or consumers with higher disposable income, this audience profile can be genuinely valuable. It would be a mistake to dismiss it without at least testing whether it produces results for your specific business.

The Cost Per Click Difference

One of the most practically compelling reasons to consider Microsoft Advertising is the difference in cost per click compared to Google Ads. Because fewer advertisers are competing on Bing, the auction environment is less heated across many industries and keyword categories. This means you can often achieve competitive ad placements at a lower cost per click, which in turn can improve your overall return on ad spend if the traffic converts at a reasonable rate.

This does not mean Microsoft Advertising is always cheaper for every keyword or every industry, and it certainly does not mean you should move budget away from Google if Google is performing well for you. The more useful way to think about it is that Microsoft Advertising can allow you to capture additional search volume at an efficient cost, effectively extending the reach of your paid search activity without simply increasing what you spend on Google.

Importing Campaigns From Google Ads

One practical advantage that removes a significant amount of the friction involved in getting started is the ability to import your existing Google Ads campaigns directly into Microsoft Advertising. The platform offers a straightforward import tool that pulls in your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ad copy, saving you the time of building everything from scratch. You will still want to review the imported campaigns carefully, adjust bids where appropriate for the different competitive landscape, and make sure your settings are configured correctly for Microsoft's platform, but the import feature makes it genuinely accessible even for busy marketing teams or solo advertisers managing multiple platforms.

This also means that if you have already done the hard work of building well-structured Google Ads campaigns with strong keyword lists and tested ad copy, you are not starting from zero on Microsoft Advertising. You are essentially taking what already works and extending it to a new audience.

Should You Run Microsoft Advertising Alongside Google Ads?

The honest answer is that for the vast majority of businesses already investing in paid search, yes, it is worth testing Microsoft Advertising alongside your Google Ads activity. The platform offers access to a different pool of searchers, often at a lower cost per click, with less competitive pressure in many sectors. It complements Google Ads rather than competing with it, and the incremental reach it provides means you are less dependent on a single platform for your paid search results.

That said, it would not be sensible to simply replicate your Google Ads spend on Microsoft Advertising and expect identical outcomes. The audiences behave differently, the search volumes are lower, and some industries will see a more meaningful return than others. B2B businesses, financial services, home improvement, and sectors targeting older or more professional demographics tend to find Microsoft Advertising particularly effective. E-commerce businesses can also benefit, especially through Bing Shopping, though the scale will generally be smaller than what Google Shopping delivers.

The sensible approach is to start with a modest test budget, import your best-performing Google Ads campaigns, and monitor the results over a meaningful period. Look at cost per conversion, conversion rate, and the quality of the traffic rather than just the volume. Give it enough time and budget to gather data before drawing firm conclusions, because paid search on any platform requires a period of learning and optimisation before it performs at its best.

Audience Targeting and LinkedIn Integration

As mentioned earlier, one of the features that genuinely sets Microsoft Advertising apart for B2B advertisers is the ability to layer LinkedIn profile data onto your targeting. You can refine your audience by company, industry, or job function, which means your ads can be shown specifically to the professional profiles most relevant to your business. This is a significant capability that has no direct equivalent in Google Ads, and for businesses selling to other businesses or targeting specific professional roles, it can make a meaningful difference to the relevance and efficiency of your campaigns.

Microsoft Advertising also offers in-market audiences, customer match, and remarketing, giving you the tools to build sophisticated audience strategies that go well beyond basic keyword targeting. These capabilities have continued to improve and are now comparable in many respects to what Google Ads offers on the audience side.

Managing Both Platforms Without Overcomplicating Things

A common concern among advertisers considering Microsoft Advertising is whether running two paid search platforms simultaneously becomes unmanageable. In practice, once your campaigns are set up and running, the ongoing management of Microsoft Advertising does not need to be as time-intensive as your Google Ads activity, particularly in the early stages when you are testing at a smaller scale. Using the import feature to keep campaigns aligned, reviewing performance regularly, and making incremental optimisations is a manageable workload for most advertisers or their agencies.

What you want to avoid is setting campaigns live and then leaving them completely unattended. Like any paid search activity, Microsoft Advertising requires ongoing attention to bidding, search term analysis, and creative testing to deliver its best results. Treating it as a set-and-forget addition to your marketing mix will produce mediocre outcomes. Treating it as a genuine channel that you manage with the same rigour as Google Ads, even if at a smaller scale, gives you a much better chance of making it work.

The Case For Diversifying Your Paid Search Activity

Relying entirely on a single advertising platform carries a level of risk that is easy to underestimate until something goes wrong. Google Ads accounts get suspended, auction dynamics shift, and costs in competitive sectors can increase significantly over time. Having a proportion of your paid search activity running on Microsoft Advertising provides a degree of resilience, ensuring that your business retains visibility in search results even if something disrupts your Google Ads performance.

Beyond the risk management argument, diversifying your paid search activity across both platforms simply makes sense as a way of maximising your total search coverage. Between Google and Bing, you are covering the overwhelming majority of search activity in most markets. Choosing to only advertise on one of them means voluntarily handing some of those searches to your competitors.

Microsoft Advertising is not a replacement for Google Ads, and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise. But as a complementary channel that extends your reach, often at a competitive cost, and with audience targeting capabilities that Google cannot match in the B2B space, it is a platform that every serious paid search advertiser should at least put to the test.