Advertising on Bing Ads, now known as Microsoft Advertising, means creating and managing search, display and shopping ads within the Microsoft ecosystem, which includes the Bing search engine, Yahoo and AOL. Unlike Google Ads, this platform operates in an environment with less competition, which translates into lower cost per click and audiences with high purchasing power. For digital marketing agencies, Microsoft Advertising represents a real opportunity to diversify their clients’ paid traffic without proportionally increasing the budget.
What is Bing Ads and what is it for?
Microsoft Advertising is Microsoft’s advertising platform that allows ads to be shown on Bing, the second most used search engine globally, and across its network of partner sites. It works under a pay-per-click (PPC) keyword bidding model, with formats that include text ads, shopping, display and responsive ads.
For a digital marketing agency, this platform is useful for:
- Diversifying clients’ paid traffic sources and reducing dependence on Google.
- Capturing existing demand in searches with less competitive pressure.
- Reaching B2B audiences through native integration with LinkedIn data.
- Making advertising budgets more efficient in niches with high costs on Google.
- Scaling campaigns already proven on Google Ads without building the structure from scratch.
Why consider Bing Ads in your paid media strategy
Lower competition and lower CPC
Most advertisers concentrate their investment on Google Ads. This creates an oversupply of demand for keywords that drives up cost per click (CPC) in sectors like insurance, legal services, technology or finance. On Microsoft Advertising, that same demand exists but with fewer advertisers bidding, which reduces the average cost. According to ranges reported by account managers, CPC on Bing can be 20% to 40% lower than on Google in equivalent categories, although this figure varies by industry and market.
Audience with high purchasing power
The demographic profile of Bing users differs from that of Google. Microsoft’s data indicates that a significant proportion of its users are over 35 years old, have above-average income and prefer desktop devices. This profile is especially valuable for B2B campaigns, financial services, insurance, health and real estate.
Targeting with LinkedIn data
Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016, and that asset is directly reflected in the advertising platform. Microsoft Advertising allows audience targeting by job title, job function, company and industry using LinkedIn data, something no other search platform offers. For agencies managing B2B accounts, this feature can make a substantial difference in the quality of leads generated.
Direct import from Google Ads
If you already manage campaigns on Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising lets you import them directly. The import tool transfers the campaign structure, ad groups, keywords, extensions and bids. This reduces initial setup time and allows the channel to be activated quickly for clients.
Types of campaigns available on Microsoft Advertising
Search campaigns
These are the main format. They work the same way as on Google Ads: the ad appears when a user searches for a keyword that matches the ones you’ve defined. They support broad, phrase and exact match, as well as negative keywords.
Shopping campaigns
Ideal for e-commerce. They show the product, price and image directly in search results. They connect to the catalog through Microsoft Merchant Center.
Audience campaigns
These allow display and native ads to be shown on Microsoft network sites, including MSN and Outlook. They use behavioral signals and LinkedIn segments to fine-tune targeting.
Performance Max campaigns
Similar to Google’s format, this automated campaign distributes the budget across all Microsoft channels automatically, optimizing toward a specific conversion.
| Campaign type | Main objective | Best use case |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Demand capture | Services, lead generation |
| Shopping | Product sales | E-commerce with catalog |
| Audiences | Awareness and remarketing | B2B, insurance, finance |
| Performance Max | Automated conversions | Accounts with conversion history |
How to advertise on Bing Ads step by step
- Create an account on Microsoft Advertising. Go to ads.microsoft.com and sign up with a Microsoft account. If you manage multiple clients, set up a manager customer account (MCC) from the start.
- Define the campaign objective. Choose between website traffic, conversions, product sales or brand awareness. The objective determines the optimization options available.
- Set up conversion tracking. Install Microsoft’s Universal Event Tracking (UET) on the client’s website. This tag is equivalent to a tracking pixel and is necessary to optimize for conversions.
- Import your Google Ads campaigns (optional). Use the “Import from Google Ads” feature in the tools menu. Select the campaigns, adjust bids if necessary and review the imported extensions.
- Conduct keyword research. Use Microsoft’s Keyword Planner to identify estimated volumes and CPCs. Prioritize terms with high commercial intent.
- Create responsive text ads. Write between 3 and 15 headlines and between 2 and 4 descriptions. Microsoft automatically combines the elements to maximize performance.
- Set up audience targeting. Enable LinkedIn segments if the client operates in B2B. Also define remarketing lists using the UET tag installed in step 3.
- Establish the budget and bidding strategy. You can use manual bidding for greater control or automated strategies like target CPA or target ROAS once you have accumulated enough conversion history.
- Launch and monitor performance. Review key metrics such as CTR, CPC, conversion rate and cost per conversion during the first two weeks. Adjust bids, schedules and targeting based on the data.
- Include the channel in your consolidated report. Integrate Microsoft Advertising data along with Google Ads and other platforms into a unified dashboard to show the client the comparative performance of each channel.
Bing Ads vs. alternatives for search advertising
| Criteria | Microsoft Advertising (Bing) | Google Ads | Apple Search Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search volume | Medium (approx. 6-9% global share) | High (approx. 90% global share) | Low (App Store only) |
| Average CPC | Lower than Google | The highest in the market | Varies by category |
| B2B targeting | Native with LinkedIn data | Limited in search | Not available |
| Main audience | 35+ years old, desktop, high income | All profiles | iOS users |
| Import from Google | Yes, native | Not applicable | No |
| Learning curve | Low if you know Google Ads | Medium-high | Low |
Frequently asked questions about advertising on Bing Ads
Are Bing Ads and Microsoft Advertising the same thing?
Yes. Microsoft rebranded the platform as Microsoft Advertising in 2019, but the name “Bing Ads” is still used colloquially. The platform doesn’t just cover Bing: it also includes Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft’s network of partner sites, which expands the real reach of campaigns.
How much minimum budget is needed to get started on Microsoft Advertising?
There is no mandatory minimum daily budget set by the platform. In practice, with budgets starting at $5 USD a day it’s possible to get initial data, although for campaigns aimed at optimization it’s recommended to allocate at least $15 to $30 USD daily per campaign to accumulate enough conversion volume within a reasonable timeframe.
Is it worth using Bing Ads if the client already has Google Ads?
Yes, especially if the client operates in sectors with high CPC on Google, has an audience profile over 35 years old or works in B2B. Bing Ads doesn’t replace Google, but it does complement the strategy by capturing similar searches with less investment. The direct import feature reduces activation time to just a few hours.
How does targeting with LinkedIn data work on Microsoft Advertising?
Within the audiences section of Microsoft Advertising, you can apply professional profile segments such as job title, job function, company name, company size and industry. These segments come from LinkedIn profiles. They can be used as bid adjustment layers on search campaigns or as targeting audiences on display and audience campaigns.
Which metrics should I prioritize to evaluate the performance of a Bing Ads campaign?
The fundamental metrics are: click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), conversion rate, cost per conversion and return on ad spend (ROAS) if applicable. For lead generation campaigns, cost per lead and lead quality are the most relevant indicators. Comparing these metrics with Google Ads allows you to validate the relative efficiency of the channel.
Can I import Google Ads campaigns to Bing Ads without losing the setup?
The import transfers campaign structure, ad groups, keywords, text ads, extensions and bidding strategies. However, some elements such as custom audiences or image extensions may require manual setup afterward. It’s recommended to review the imported campaign before activating it in order to adjust bids according to Bing’s actual CPCs.
How does an agency report Microsoft Advertising results to its clients?
The usual challenge is that Microsoft Advertising generates its own reports, isolated from other platforms. Tools like Master Metrics allow you to integrate Microsoft Advertising data together with Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads and other sources into a unified dashboard, making it easier to show the client the overall performance of their advertising investment without manually building reports on each platform.
Conclusion
Microsoft Advertising is an advertising channel with concrete advantages for agencies managing clients in competitive sectors or with B2B audience profiles. The lower CPC, LinkedIn integration and the ability to import campaigns from Google reduce both the barrier to entry and the activation cost. It’s not about abandoning Google Ads, but about diversifying strategically to extract greater performance from the client’s total budget.
The main operational challenge for an agency is managing multiple platforms in parallel: each channel generates its own data, its own reports and its own metrics. When Microsoft Advertising, Google Ads, Meta and LinkedIn are combined in the same account, the time spent consolidating information can easily exceed the time spent optimizing campaigns. Master Metrics solves that problem by centralizing data from all platforms into an automated dashboard, eliminating manual reporting work and allowing the team to focus on what generates real value for clients.
Activating Bing Ads is a decision many agencies postpone due to lack of knowledge or operational inertia. The steps described in this article allow you to set up the channel in just a few hours and start collecting data from day one. With the right reporting infrastructure, comparing performance across channels becomes a simple process that strengthens the agency’s value proposition to its clients.
