- Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) is cheaper because most advertisers ignore it. Less competition means lower click prices.
- Clicks run about a third less than Google, and the cost per conversion is lower too. In legal and insurance the gap is wider.
- The audience skews older, higher-income, educated, and desktop-heavy. That fits B2B, finance, insurance, and high-ticket offers.
- It is the only search platform with LinkedIn targeting: company, industry, and job function, because Microsoft owns LinkedIn.
- Do not run it as a Google copy. Import the structure, then manage it as its own channel and judge it on cost per qualified lead.
Quick answers:
- Is Bing Ads worth it in 2026?
- How much cheaper is Bing Ads than Google Ads?
- Who should use Microsoft Advertising?
- Can I import my Google Ads campaigns into Bing?
- What is LinkedIn targeting in Microsoft Advertising?
- How do I measure Bing Ads lead quality?
Microsoft Advertising, still called Bing Ads by most people, is the cheapest qualified-lead channel most advertisers never turn on. The clicks cost less because the competition is thinner. The audience is older and wealthier than Google’s. And it is the only search platform that can target by LinkedIn job function.
That combination makes it a strong second channel for lead generation, not a Google replacement. Below: what the network is, why the leads come cheaper, who you reach, the LinkedIn targeting nobody else has, how to import from Google without copying its mistakes, and how to measure it. The whole point is cheaper qualified leads. So we judge it on cost per qualified lead, not clicks.
What Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) actually is
Microsoft Advertising is the paid search network that runs across Bing, Microsoft Edge, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and MSN. Microsoft retired the “Bing Ads” name years ago, but the old term stuck, so you will see both.
Reach is smaller than Google but far from niche. Bing holds about 14.2% of U.S. desktop search share, and the wider Microsoft Search Network reaches roughly 724 million unique monthly users (Searchlab). Desktop is the key word there. Bing is strongest on work computers, which is part of why its audience converts the way it does.
If you already run Google Ads, the mechanics will feel familiar. Same keyword auctions, same responsive search ads, same conversion tracking idea. The difference is who is searching and how much you pay to reach them, which is the rest of this guide.
The cost case: why Bing leads come cheaper
The headline reason to run Microsoft Advertising is price. Fewer advertisers bid on the same keywords, so the auction stays cheaper.
The average search CPC is about $1.37 versus $2.06 on Google, roughly 33% lower (Merkle Q4 2025, via Searchlab). The gap is wider in expensive verticals. Legal and insurance clicks run about 46% cheaper, and financial services about 38% cheaper. The savings carry downstream too. The average cost per conversion is around $31 on Microsoft versus $45 on Google (Searchlab).
| Metric | Microsoft Advertising | Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Average search CPC | $1.37 | $2.06 |
| Average cost per conversion | $31 | $45 |
| Average search CTR | 4.1% | 3.8% |
| Average conversion rate | 3.6% | 4.2% |
One honest caveat. The conversion rate is a touch lower, 3.6% versus 4.2% (Searchlab). The cheaper clicks more than make up for it on cost per lead, but you should expect smaller volume. Bing handles a fraction of Google’s searches, so treat it as incremental cheap volume, not a full replacement.
Who you actually reach on Bing
The Bing audience is not the Google audience, and that is the point. It skews older, wealthier, and more educated.
The average Bing user is about 45 years old versus 38 on Google, and the 35-to-54 bracket is the largest group at 42% (Searchlab). On income, 40% of Bing users sit above $75,000 in household income versus 31% on Google, and 46% hold a college degree. Because Bing is the default in Windows and Edge, a lot of that traffic is people searching on work machines during the day.
So the fit is specific. Microsoft Advertising tends to pay off for B2B, financial services, insurance, healthcare, home services, and higher-ticket offers aimed at an older, higher-income buyer. If your customer is young, mobile-first, and impulse-driven, Bing will be a weaker fit, and that is a reason to weight your budget toward other channels.
The LinkedIn lever: targeting no other search engine has
Here is the feature that makes Microsoft Advertising genuinely different. Because Microsoft owns LinkedIn, you can layer LinkedIn profile data onto your search campaigns. No other search engine can do this.
You get three professional dimensions: company, industry, and job function (Search Engine Land). It works as a bid adjustment, not a hard filter, across Microsoft surfaces when the user is signed in. For B2B lead generation, that means bidding more aggressively when the searcher is, say, in financial services or holds an operations role, without blocking everyone else.
Importing from Google Ads without copying its mistakes
Microsoft built a one-click import from Google Ads, and it is the fastest way to launch (Microsoft Advertising). You can pull your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads over in minutes instead of rebuilding by hand.
The trap is treating the import as the finish line. A campaign tuned for Google’s auction and audience is not tuned for Bing’s. The bids are usually too high for the cheaper auction, the negative keyword lists miss Bing-specific junk, and the device split is wrong because Bing leans desktop.
So import the structure, then manage it as its own account. Reset bids to the cheaper market, rebuild negatives from Bing’s own search terms, and weight bids toward desktop. The common mistake here is the set-and-forget import that runs untouched for months and quietly wastes budget on a Google blueprint.
What a Bing Ads management service actually does
A real management service does more than mirror your Google account. The work is account structure, keyword research scoped to Bing’s lower volume, and responsive search ads that use the full 3-to-15 headline range Microsoft allows.
It also means the things that are easy to skip:
- Configure the UET tag and conversion tracking correctly.
- Layer LinkedIn targeting where it fits.
- Build Bing-specific negative keyword lists.
- Report on cost per lead, not clicks or impressions.
A service that just imports your Google campaigns and sends a traffic report is not managing anything.
The decision rule is simple. If a provider cannot explain how they will use LinkedIn targeting and how they will measure lead quality, they are running Bing as a Google afterthought. And you will get afterthought results.
Measuring it right: cost per qualified lead, not clicks
Cheap clicks are only useful if they become qualified leads, so measurement is where Bing campaigns are won or lost. Start with the plumbing: install the UET tag and define real conversion actions, not pageviews.
Then judge the channel on cost per qualified lead, fed back from your CRM. Bing’s whole value proposition is a lower cost per lead, around $31 per conversion against Google’s $45 on average (Searchlab). But an average is not your number. A lead that never closes is not cheaper, it is just cheap. Pipe closed-won data back so you are optimizing to revenue, the same discipline you would use on any channel.
If you want the deeper version of that feedback loop, it is the same one we describe for Google Ads management: feed qualified and closed events back to the platform so it optimizes to buyers, not form fills.
What it costs and who should skip it
Management pricing follows the same models as any paid-media channel: a flat monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend, or a hybrid. The right structure depends on your spend and how much strategy you need. A provider worth hiring ties their fee to outcomes, not hours.
Bing is not for everyone. If your audience is young and mobile-first, or your offer needs the sheer search volume only Google provides, Microsoft Advertising will underwhelm. It shines as a cheaper second channel for B2B and higher-income consumer verticals, layered on top of your primary search spend. For most lead-gen advertisers, the right move is to run it alongside Google, not instead of it. You can think through the full channel mix in our performance marketing and lead generation guides, or book a free consultation to map it to your numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bing Ads worth it in 2026?
For most lead-gen advertisers, yes, as a second channel. Microsoft Advertising clicks run about 33% cheaper than Google, and the cost per conversion is lower, around $31 versus $45 on average. The audience is older and higher-income, which suits B2B, finance, and insurance. The catch is volume: Bing handles far fewer searches than Google, so run it alongside Google, not instead of it.
How much cheaper is Bing Ads than Google Ads?
The average search CPC is about $1.37 on Microsoft Advertising versus $2.06 on Google, roughly 33% lower. In expensive verticals the gap is wider, around 46% cheaper in legal and insurance and 38% in financial services. The average cost per conversion is also lower, near $31 versus $45. You give up some conversion rate, but the cheaper clicks usually win on cost per lead.
Who should use Microsoft Advertising?
Advertisers whose customers skew older, higher-income, and desktop-based. The Bing audience averages about 45 years old, and 40% have household income above $75,000. That fits B2B, financial services, insurance, healthcare, home services, and higher-ticket offers. If your buyer is young, mobile-first, and impulse-driven, Bing will be a weaker fit and deserve a smaller share of budget.
Can I import my Google Ads campaigns into Bing?
Yes. Microsoft Advertising has a one-click import that pulls your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads from Google in minutes. Do not stop there, though. A campaign tuned for Google’s auction is not tuned for Bing, so reset bids to the cheaper market, rebuild negative keyword lists from Bing’s own search terms, and lean into desktop. The set-and-forget import is where most Bing budget is wasted.
What is LinkedIn targeting in Microsoft Advertising?
It is the ability to target searchers by their LinkedIn company, industry, or job function, available only on Microsoft Advertising because Microsoft owns LinkedIn. It works as a bid adjustment rather than a hard filter, so you bid more when a searcher matches your target profile. Start in bid-only mode, use a conservative 10% to 15% increase, and pick one dimension first to avoid compounding bids.
How do I measure Bing Ads lead quality?
Install the UET tag and define real conversion actions, not pageviews, then judge the channel on cost per qualified lead fed back from your CRM. The platform average is around $31 per conversion, but your number is the one that matters. Pipe closed-won data back so you optimize to revenue, because a lead that never closes is cheap, not valuable.
