Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising puts your campaigns in front of searchers on Bing, Yahoo, and the Microsoft Audience Network — an audience that often overlaps less with your Google traffic than you'd expect, producing genuinely incremental leads rather than duplicate spend.

About Microsoft Advertising

For many service businesses, the Bing audience skews older, higher-income, and more desktop-based — which can mean higher-intent commercial searches and, in some markets, a lower cost per qualified lead than the same terms on Google. We manage Microsoft Ads alongside your Google campaigns to capture that incremental reach.

We don't run Microsoft Ads because it's cheaper per click; we run it when the incremental leads it produces cost less than the next-best option in your market. We measure that honestly and recommend pausing it if the data doesn't justify the spend.

Microsoft Advertising — the platform formerly known as Bing Ads — is the search advertising channel that reaches the audience Google Ads does not exclusively capture. The Microsoft search ecosystem powers results on Bing, the Bing-powered Yahoo and DuckDuckGo results, and the search built into Windows, Edge, and Microsoft Start. The combined reach is smaller than Google's in raw query volume, but the audience skews older, higher-income, and more enterprise-adjacent — precisely the audience that many B2B and professional service businesses target, and precisely the audience that is underpriced relative to its conversion quality on Google's platform.

The platform's most distinctive capability is LinkedIn profile targeting for Sponsored Content and search ads in the United States. Because Microsoft owns LinkedIn, it can layer LinkedIn firmographic data — company, industry, job title, seniority — onto audience targeting in a way no other search platform can. For a B2B business whose ideal customer is defined by role and company rather than by search behavior alone, this is the one platform that reaches that buyer by professional identity, not by behavioral proxy. The targeting is available on Sponsored Content and, with configuration, on search campaigns; the distinction between where it applies and where it does not is a planning decision, not an afterthought.

Who Microsoft Advertising is for

Businesses already running Google Ads that want to test incremental reach before expanding budget; companies whose customers skew toward the demographics where Bing over-indexes; and any account where cost-per-lead on Google is rising and a complementary channel is worth testing.

Problems Microsoft Advertising solves

Ignoring a real audience. You're only on Google, leaving Bing and Yahoo traffic — and the default search engines on many Windows devices — unaddressed and available to competitors.
Duplicated effort without coordination. You run Microsoft Ads by mirroring Google, but without aligned budgets, shared conversion data, or a clear view of which channel produced which job.
Underestimating the audience. The Bing audience is dismissed as too small, when in some markets and demographics it converts at a lower cost per lead than Google.

What Microsoft Advertising includes

Cross-channel coordination

We manage Microsoft alongside Google so budgets, bidding, and creative are coordinated — and so you can see which channel produced each booked job.

Shared conversion tracking
Coordinated budget allocation
Channel-level cost-per-acquisition reporting

Import & restructure

We import your Google campaigns and restructure them for Microsoft's platform — adapting to its targeting, ad formats, and audience features rather than running a blind copy.

Smart import with restructuring
Microsoft-specific ad formats
Audience targeting adapted to the platform

Microsoft Audience Network

We test the native audience network for reach beyond search — where it produces incremental leads at acceptable cost.

Audience-campaign testing
Incremental-lead validation
Budget caps on experimental reach

Honest incremental analysis

We measure whether Microsoft leads are truly incremental or cannibalizing Google — and recommend scaling or pausing based on what the data shows.

Overlap analysis
Incremental cost-per-lead reporting
Pause-or-scale recommendations

How Microsoft Advertising works

Incremental assessment. We analyze your market and current Google performance to estimate whether Microsoft can produce leads at a lower incremental cost than scaling Google further.
Import & adapt. We import and restructure campaigns for Microsoft's platform — not a blind copy — adapting targeting, ad formats, and budgets.
Tracking parity. We deploy the same conversion tracking and CRM event feedback as Google so both channels are measured on the same outcome basis.
Test & measure. We run a defined test period and measure true incremental cost per qualified lead — scaling if it performs, pausing if it doesn't.
Report & decide. You get channel-level reporting tied to booked jobs and signed contracts, with a clear recommendation on whether Microsoft earns its place in your mix.

How Microsoft Advertising is implemented

Account setup begins with importing your Google Ads campaigns — structure, keywords, ad copy, and extensions — into Microsoft Advertising. The import preserves the campaign architecture but needs platform-specific adjustments: bid strategies, audience targeting options, and ad formats that differ from Google's implementation. We configure each imported campaign for the Microsoft ecosystem rather than running a raw import.

Universal Event Tracking implementation is the Microsoft equivalent of Google's conversion tracking. We install the UET tag on your website, configure conversion goals for form submissions, calls, and appointments, and verify that each goal fires reliably. If you're already tracking conversions in Google Ads, we mirror the same conversion events in Microsoft so both platforms optimize toward the same business outcomes.

LinkedIn profile targeting implementation is a Microsoft-specific advantage for B2B campaigns. We configure audience targeting by LinkedIn job title, industry, and company — so your ads reach decision-makers by professional profile, not just by search query. For a commercial service targeting facility managers, this means showing ads specifically to people with that job title who are also searching for relevant commercial service terms — a targeting combination Google can't match.

Ad copy implementation includes adapting Google's responsive search ads to Microsoft's format, which supports similar responsive ad variations but with different character limits and display rules. We also implement Microsoft-specific ad extensions — image extensions, sitelink extensions, call extensions — that differ from Google's in format and availability.

Bid strategy implementation depends on the conversion data available. For accounts with imported conversion history, we can use Microsoft's automated bidding (target CPA, maximize conversions) from the start. For newer accounts with less data, we start with enhanced CPC and transition to automated bidding as the account accumulates conversion history. The bidding strategy mirrors Google Ads' but may reach automated-bidding readiness faster because the imported structure already has keyword-level performance data.

Audience implementation includes building remarketing lists from UET-tagged website visitors, creating similar audiences (Microsoft's equivalent of lookalikes), and configuring in-market audiences for demand-side targeting. We test these audiences separately from the search campaigns to see which produces the cheapest qualified conversions.

Ongoing optimization mirrors Google Ads management — bid adjustments, search-term review, negative-keyword additions, and budget reallocation — but with attention to the different audience profile and competitive density of the Bing network. We report on cost per qualified lead and return on ad spend separately for each platform so you can see the incremental value Microsoft Advertising adds alongside Google Ads.

Account structure on Microsoft Advertising mirrors Google Ads in its bones — campaigns, ad groups, keywords, match types, ad copy, sitelinks, callouts — but the platform rewards a deliberate import-and-diverge strategy rather than a blind sync. The Google Ads import feature copies campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ad copy, and extensions in one operation, which is the fastest path to parity. But the audiences, the query mix, and the CPCs differ enough that the imported account needs its own optimization pass: bid adjustments for the LinkedIn-targeted audiences, negative keywords for the query terms that differ from Google's, and budget allocation that reflects the different volume. An account that is imported and never optimized for Microsoft's ecosystem is an account that runs at Google's efficiency on a different platform, which is not the same as running at Microsoft's efficiency.

Conversion tracking on Microsoft Advertising uses a UET tag and conversion goals, which differ technically from Google's tag-based measurement but serve the same purpose: attributing conversions to the campaigns and keywords that produced them. The UET tag fires on every page and the conversion goals — URL, duration, event, offline — define what counts. The technical setup includes placing the UET tag across the site, defining the conversion goals, and — for lead businesses — connecting the offline conversion import so the phone calls and form submissions that actually become customers are attributed back. Without the offline import, the platform optimizes toward form submissions rather than toward qualified leads, and the bid strategy optimizes the wrong outcome.

Strategy & decision guidance for Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising strategy leverages the Bing network's distinct audience profile — which skews older, higher-income, and more desktop-oriented than Google's audience — to capture demand that complements your Google Ads presence rather than duplicating it. For many service businesses, Bing users represent a higher-value click: they convert at a higher rate and a lower cost because the audience is more deliberate and less saturated with competition. The strategy is to treat Microsoft Advertising as a complementary channel that extends reach into a different audience segment, not as a replacement for Google Ads.

Import strategy is the primary implementation path: we import your Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Advertising to leverage the campaign structure, keywords, and ad copy you've already optimized — then adjust for the platform's differences. Microsoft's import tools are robust, but direct imports need refinement: bid adjustments, audience targeting, and ad extensions that differ from Google's implementation. The strategy is to start from your proven Google Ads structure and optimize for Microsoft's audience rather than building from scratch.

Audience targeting strategy takes advantage of Microsoft's unique capabilities — particularly LinkedIn profile targeting for B2B campaigns, which allows targeting by job title, industry, and company that Google doesn't offer at the same granularity. For B2B service businesses, this means we can reach decision-makers by professional profile rather than by search query alone, which is a meaningful advantage for high-consideration commercial services where the buyer has a specific role.

Budget strategy on Microsoft typically follows Google Ads' lead: we allocate a portion of the search budget to Bing — often twenty to thirty percent of the Google Ads spend — and measure the cost per acquisition against Google's to determine whether to scale or maintain. In many markets, the cost per click on Bing is lower and the audience is less competitive, so the incremental cost per acquisition can be lower — but the search volume is smaller, so the total lead volume is lower too. The strategy is to use Bing for efficiency, not for volume.

For local service businesses, the strategy includes geographic targeting that mirrors the Google Ads campaigns but with attention to the different demographic distribution of Bing users — who may be concentrated in different parts of the service area or represent different types of demand than the Google audience. We analyze the geographic and demographic performance separately for each platform rather than assuming they perform identically.

Remarketing strategy on Microsoft uses the Universal Event Tracking tag to build audience lists from website visitors, similar to Google's remarketing but with the Bing audience profile. For most service businesses, the remarketing audience on Bing is smaller than Google's, but the cost per remarketing conversion can be lower — making it a valuable complement rather than a replacement.

The strategic question for most businesses is not whether to use Microsoft Advertising instead of Google Ads but whether to add it as a second search channel. The incremental cost per acquisition is often lower than Google's — because the audience is less competed for — but the total volume is lower. We recommend starting with Google Ads to build the campaign structure and conversion tracking, then adding Microsoft Advertising as a complement that extends reach and lowers the blended cost per acquisition.

The budget allocation decision between Google and Microsoft is a portfolio decision, not an either-or. Google captures the majority of high-commercial-intent search volume; Microsoft captures the audience that is cheaper per click and that converts at a comparable or higher rate for B2B and professional services. A common allocation is 70-80% of search budget to Google and 20-30% to Microsoft, with the Microsoft share adjusted up for B2B businesses where LinkedIn targeting compounds the value. The allocation should be reviewed against actual CPL and lead quality, not against raw impression share, because the platforms serve different volumes of the same intent.

The LinkedIn targeting decision is the one that most often distinguishes a Microsoft Advertising account that justifies its budget from one that does not. The targeting layers company, industry, job title, and seniority onto the audience, which for B2B means the ad reaches the decision-maker by professional identity rather than by the search term that happens to correlate. The incremental cost of the targeting is modest relative to the precision it adds, and the campaigns that use it should be structured as their own ad groups so the performance is measurable against the untargeted baseline. The targeting is not available on every format and every market, so the campaign plan has to account for where it applies.

How we measure Microsoft Advertising

We measure incremental qualified leads, incremental cost per qualified lead, and incremental cost per acquisition — isolating leads Microsoft produced that Google would not have. If Microsoft leads are mostly cannibalization, we say so and recommend reallocating budget. A lower cost-per-click means nothing if the channel doesn't add real customers.

Disconnected vs. connected: Microsoft Advertising

Audience profile

Without: You reach only the Google audience — which is the largest but also the most competed-for, with the highest cost per click in most markets.

With Softscale: You extend your reach into the Bing audience — which skews older, higher-income, and more desktop-oriented, and often converts at a higher rate and lower cost per acquisition.

B2B targeting precision

Without: You target B2B decision-makers by search query alone — which doesn't distinguish a facility manager from a homeowner searching for the same service.

With Softscale: You layer LinkedIn profile targeting — job title, industry, company — to reach decision-makers by professional profile, not just by what they searched for.

Cost efficiency

Without: Your entire search budget goes to Google's auction, where competition drives up the cost per click and the cost per acquisition.

With Softscale: You split search spend across two platforms, lowering the blended cost per acquisition because Bing's less competitive auction often produces cheaper conversions.

Campaign leverage

Without: You build search campaigns from scratch for each platform — duplicating the work of keyword research, ad copy, and structure.

With Softscale: You import proven Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft and refine for the platform — leveraging the structure you've already optimized rather than rebuilding.

Volume vs efficiency

Without: You optimize for maximum search volume by concentrating on Google — which has the largest audience but also the highest costs.

With Softscale: You balance volume and efficiency by running both platforms — Google for reach, Microsoft for incremental efficiency — so the blended cost per acquisition is lower than either alone.

How businesses use Microsoft Advertising

B2B service with LinkedIn targeting

A commercial service — janitorial, security, or facilities — targeting decision-makers by job title uses Microsoft's LinkedIn profile targeting to show ads specifically to facility managers, operations directors, and procurement officers searching for relevant terms. The targeting eliminates the wasted spend of showing the same ad to homeowners searching for residential versions of the same service, lowering the cost per qualified B2B lead significantly.

Complementary search channel

A company already running profitable Google Ads campaigns adds Microsoft Advertising to extend reach into the Bing audience — capturing demand from the portion of their market that uses Bing or Edge by default (including many enterprise environments where Bing is the default search engine). The incremental leads come at a lower cost per acquisition than scaling Google Ads further, because the Bing auction is less competitive.

Older, higher-income consumer

A service whose ideal customer skews older and higher-income — estate planning, senior care, or premium home services — benefits from the Bing audience's demographic profile, which skews older and higher-income than Google's. The same ad creative that performs on Google may produce a lower cost per acquisition on Bing because the audience matches the ideal customer more closely.

Enterprise-environment reach

A B2B company whose buyers work in corporate environments where Bing is the default search engine (due to Microsoft enterprise licensing) uses Microsoft Advertising to reach buyers where they actually search during the workday — not just the Google searches they do at home. The targeting captures demand that Google Ads misses because the buyer's workday searches happen on Bing.

Import-and-refine efficiency

A company with a well-optimized Google Ads account imports campaigns into Microsoft Advertising and refines them for the platform — adjusting bids for Bing's different cost-per-click profile, adding LinkedIn targeting for B2B campaigns, and testing Microsoft-specific ad extensions. The result is a second search channel that produces incremental qualified leads at a lower cost per acquisition than scaling the Google account further.

B2B enterprise software with a long sales cycle

An enterprise software business targeting IT directors and VPs at companies above 500 employees uses Microsoft Advertising with LinkedIn targeting to reach the buying committee by role and company size. The search campaigns capture the intent; the LinkedIn targeting filters the audience to the decision-makers. The long sales cycle means the value is in the pipeline contribution, not the immediate form fill, so the offline conversion import and the pipeline-attributed measurement are the signals that justify the spend.

Common microsoft advertising problems — and how we address them

Treated as a Google clone with no refinement. Importing Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Advertising and running them without adjustment — no bid modifications, no LinkedIn targeting, no audience refinements — wastes the platform's unique advantages. We refine each imported campaign for Microsoft's audience, targeting options, and competitive density, so the platform is used as a distinct channel rather than a raw copy of Google.
No conversion tracking. Running Microsoft Advertising without UET-tagged conversion goals means the platform can't optimize toward business outcomes — it's spending blind. We install and verify the UET tag and configure conversion goals for the same events we track in Google Ads, so both platforms optimize toward the same definition of a qualified conversion.
Underfunded relative to potential. Allocating too little budget to Microsoft Advertising — or none at all — leaves incremental, lower-cost demand on the table. In many markets, Bing produces conversions at twenty to thirty percent lower cost per acquisition than Google, but only if the budget is large enough for the algorithm to learn. We recommend a budget proportional to the platform's share of your market's search volume.
B2B targeting ignored. Not using LinkedIn profile targeting for B2B campaigns misses the primary advantage of Microsoft Advertising over Google — the ability to target decision-makers by professional profile. We implement LinkedIn targeting for B2B campaigns so your ads reach buyers by job title and industry, not just by search query.
No separate performance reporting. Combining Google and Microsoft results in one report obscures the incremental value of each platform — you can't see whether Bing is producing cheaper leads or just adding volume. We report separately for each platform so you can evaluate whether Microsoft Advertising is producing the incremental efficiency that justifies the spend.
Imported account never re-optimized for Microsoft. The Google import copies the account in one step, but the query mix, the CPCs, and the audience behavior differ enough that the imported account runs at Google's efficiency on a different platform. The fix is a dedicated optimization pass — bid adjustments, negative keywords, audience bid multipliers — after the import, not a set-and-forget sync.
Offline conversions not imported. Without the offline conversion import, the platform optimizes toward form submissions rather than qualified leads. The bid strategy that optimizes toward form fills is the strategy that drives the most form fills, which is not the same as the most qualified leads. The fix is connecting the offline conversion import so the leads that actually become customers are the signal the platform optimizes toward.

Honest answers before you commit

Does anyone actually use Bing?

Bing powers roughly twenty-five to thirty percent of US desktop search volume — including the default search in Microsoft Edge, Windows, and many enterprise environments where Bing is the default. For B2B, the share can be higher because corporate environments often default to Microsoft products. The audience is smaller than Google's but it's real, it's less competed for, and it often converts at a lower cost per acquisition. The question isn't whether people use Bing but whether the incremental leads it produces are cheaper than scaling Google further — and in most markets, they are.

We already run Google Ads — why add Microsoft Advertising?

Because the incremental cost per acquisition on Microsoft is often lower than scaling Google further. Bing's auction is less competitive, so the same campaigns produce cheaper conversions. The total volume is smaller, but the efficiency is higher. For most businesses, running both produces a lower blended cost per acquisition than concentrating the entire search budget on Google — and for B2B, LinkedIn profile targeting adds a layer of precision Google can't match.

Can we just import our Google Ads campaigns and run them as-is?

You can import — and we do — but running the import without refinement wastes the platform's advantages. We adjust bids for Bing's different cost-per-click profile, add LinkedIn targeting for B2B campaigns, implement Microsoft-specific ad extensions, and configure UET-tagged conversion goals. The import gives us a proven starting structure; the refinement adapts it to the platform's unique capabilities and audience.

How much budget should we allocate to Microsoft Advertising?

Typically twenty to thirty percent of your Google Ads budget — enough for the algorithm to learn and for the cost per acquisition to stabilize. If the cost per acquisition on Microsoft is lower than Google's, we'll recommend scaling the Bing budget; if it's higher, we'll reduce it. The allocation should be data-driven, not assumed, and we adjust it based on each platform's actual performance.

What's LinkedIn profile targeting and how does it help B2B?

Microsoft Advertising integrates with LinkedIn data to let you target ads by job title, industry, and company — so a B2B campaign can show ads specifically to facility managers, or CFOs, or operations directors searching for relevant terms. Google doesn't offer this level of professional targeting. For B2B campaigns, it means your ads reach decision-makers by role, not just by search query — which reduces wasted impressions on non-decision-makers who search for the same terms.

Will our ads show on partner networks we don't control?

Microsoft Advertising includes a search partner network — third-party sites that use Bing results — which can extend your reach but may produce lower-quality traffic. We use the Microsoft Ads network option (Microsoft's own properties) for campaigns where quality matters most and the full network for campaigns where reach is the priority. You can control this setting per campaign, and we'll configure it based on your quality-vs-reach preference.

How long does it take to see results from Microsoft Advertising?

If we're importing an existing, optimized Google Ads account, the structure and keyword data give the Microsoft account a head start — so results can appear within the first few weeks. Reaching a stable, optimized cost per acquisition typically takes forty-five to ninety days as the platform's algorithm accumulates conversion data and we refine the targeting. The timeline is shorter than starting from scratch because the campaign architecture is already proven.

Can we pause it if it doesn't work?

Yes — Microsoft Advertising is a month-to-month managed service with no long-term contract. If the incremental cost per acquisition isn't competitive with Google's after a fair trial, we'll recommend reallocating the budget. We'd rather have an honest conversation about what's working than invoice you for a channel that isn't producing.

Bing's market share is small — is it worth the effort?

The market share question is the right one to ask, and the answer depends on what you are measuring. Bing's share of US search is roughly 8-10% of queries, which sounds small until you consider that those queries come from an audience that is older, higher-income, and more likely to be on a workplace device — and that the CPCs on that audience are lower than Google's for the same intent. For a B2B business, the incremental pipeline from the 8-10% that is also the audience Google's volume doesn't prioritize can justify the effort; for a high-volume consumer business, the effort-to-volume ratio may not. We assess the specific audience and the marginal CPL, and we recommend the allocation that the numbers support, not a platform preference.

Is your business ready for microsoft advertising?

You're already running Google Ads campaigns with proven campaign structure and conversion tracking — Microsoft Advertising works best as a complement to an existing search presence, not a standalone channel.
You have a monthly ad budget that can be split across two search platforms without either being underfunded — typically, this means your Google Ads budget is large enough to justify a twenty-to-thirty-percent allocation to Microsoft.
For B2B services, you can identify the job titles, industries, or company profiles of your decision-makers — so we can configure LinkedIn profile targeting.
You have conversion tracking on your website (or are willing to let us install it) so the UET tag can track the same conversion events as your Google Ads pixel.
You understand that Microsoft Advertising produces lower volume but potentially lower cost per acquisition than Google — and that the value is in incremental efficiency, not in replacing Google's reach.
You can provide access to your Microsoft Advertising account (or we can create one) and import permissions for your Google Ads campaigns.
You understand that the first forty-five to ninety days are about accumulating conversion data and refining the imported campaigns — and that the cost per acquisition improves as the platform learns.

Industries Microsoft Advertising helps

Roofing Companies — Older-skewing homeowners on Bing match the roof-replacement buyer demographic.
Electricians — High-value electrical searches convert well on a lower-competition channel.
Lawyers & Legal Practices — Professional-service intent on Bing often costs less per lead than the same terms on Google.
Insurance Agencies — Insurance shoppers on Bing skew toward the demographics that buy higher-premium policies.

Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Ads just a smaller Google?

No — it's a different audience. The Bing and Microsoft network users often skew older and higher-income, and in some markets convert at a lower cost per lead than the same terms on Google. We test it as incremental reach, not a redundant copy.

Should we run Microsoft if we're not on Google yet?

Usually no — Google has more demand volume in most markets, so we'd start there. Microsoft is strongest as a complement to an existing Google campaign, not a replacement.

Do you just copy our Google campaigns over?

We import them, then restructure for Microsoft's targeting and formats. A blind copy underperforms because the platforms optimize differently.

How do you know the leads are incremental?

We track each channel separately with shared conversion data and compare cost per acquisition. If Microsoft leads are cannibalizing Google at higher cost, we recommend pausing.

What does it cost?

Management is scope-based. Your ad budget is separate and always your decision — we'll tell you the realistic minimum to test before you commit.

What is the difference between Microsoft Advertising and Bing Ads?

They are the same platform — Bing Ads was renamed to Microsoft Advertising in 2019 to reflect that the ad network reaches beyond Bing.com to the full Microsoft search ecosystem, including Yahoo search results, DuckDuckGo's sponsored results, and the search built into Windows and Edge. The advertising interface, the API, and the account structure are unchanged; the rename reflects the expanded distribution, not a new product.