Should I advertise on Bing as well as Google?
For most small businesses already spending money on Google Ads, yes, it is worth testing. Bing Ads, now called Microsoft Advertising, often delivers a lower average cost per click because fewer advertisers bid there, and it reaches desktop searchers that Google misses. Treat it as an add-on rather than a replacement: Bing still handles a minority of UK searches, so it cannot carry your lead generation on its own.
If you run Google Ads, you have probably had this thought while staring at your cost per click: is there anywhere cheaper to buy the same kind of traffic? There is, and it has been sitting there for years. Microsoft’s advertising network puts your ads in front of everyone searching on Bing, and hardly any of your competitors bother with it.
That neglect is exactly what makes Bing Ads interesting. But it is not free money, and it is not right for every business. Here is an honest look at when it works, when it does not, and how to test it without wasting a month of budget.
First, what Bing Ads is actually called now
Bing Ads was renamed Microsoft Advertising back in 2019, though the Bing Ads name stuck, though most people still call it Bing Ads and everyone knows what they mean. When you advertise through it, your ads can appear on Bing itself and across the Bing Network of search partner sites, which includes Yahoo and DuckDuckGo, as well as placements in Microsoft products like the Edge browser and the Copilot AI assistant built into Windows.
That last point matters more than it used to. Bing is the default search engine in Edge, and Edge is the default browser on Windows. Every office worker who has never changed their browser settings is a potential Bing searcher, which shapes who you reach there.
How many people actually use Bing?
Fewer than you think on phones, more than you think among desktop users. According to StatCounter’s September 2026 figures, Google holds about 91% of all UK searches across every device, which leaves Bing Ads a small slice of search market share overall. But look at desktop searches alone and the picture changes: Bing handled roughly 18% of UK desktop searches in the same period, with Google on about 76%.
That split tells you who Bing is for. It over-delivers with people sitting at computers, often at work, often in the 45-plus bracket, and often researching considered purchases rather than impulse buys. If your customers are office managers, homeowners doing research in the evening, or businesses comparing suppliers, a decent share of them are reachable with Bing Ads. If your customers are twenty-somethings browsing on their phones, they are mostly not.
Why the clicks are often cheaper
Advertising on search advertising platforms is an auction. The price of a click is set by how many advertisers want that search term, and search terms with many bidders cost more and how hard they bid. On Google, every plumber, solicitor and letting agent in your town is bidding. On Bing, maybe two of them are. Fewer bidders means lower prices, which is why businesses that run both advertising platforms commonly find their Bing Ads cost per click comes in below Google’s for the same keywords.
There is no universal discount figure worth trusting, because it varies by industry and town. The honest claim about average cost is the mechanism: less competition, lower auction prices, and frequently a lower cost per lead as a result, at a similar conversion rate. The only way to know your number is to run the test below.
One trick Google cannot copy: LinkedIn targeting
Microsoft owns LinkedIn, and Bing Ads can use that. It offers LinkedIn profile targeting, which lets you layer bids or audiences by a searcher’s company, industry and job function. Google’s search ads have nothing equivalent.
If you sell to other businesses, this is the single best reason to run Bing Ads alongside Google Ads. A commercial cleaning company can bid more aggressively when the searcher works in facilities management. An accountant can focus on people whose job function is finance or who work at companies of a certain size. You are still buying search clicks, but with a professional filter Google cannot offer.
Google Ads vs Microsoft Advertising at a glance
| Google Ads | Microsoft Advertising (Bing) | |
|---|---|---|
| UK search reach (all devices) | Around 91% (StatCounter, Sept 2026) | Small single-digit share |
| UK desktop reach | Around 76% | Around 18% |
| Competition | High in almost every sector | Low; many niches barely contested |
| Typical click cost | Your benchmark | Often lower, due to fewer bidders |
| Audience skew | Everyone, especially mobile | Older, desktop, at-work searchers |
| Unique targeting | Huge audience and location data | LinkedIn company, industry and job function |
| Best role | Main volume driver | Cheaper top-up and B2B filter |
When it is not worth bothering
Bing is not a magic fix, and there are situations where I would tell you to leave it alone:
- Your total ad budget is small.If you spend a few hundred pounds a month on Google, splitting it across two platforms just starves both. Get Google working properly first. There is a full breakdown inhow much a small business should spend on Google Ads.
- Your customers live on their phones.Bing’s mobile share is tiny. If you sell phone accessories, festival tickets or anything bought on the move, the volume is not there.
- Your niche is hyper-local and low volume.If only thirty people a month search your core term in your town, an 18% slice of a third of them is a rounding error. You will not collect enough data to learn anything.
- You cannot track enquiries properly.If you do not know which channel produced which lead, adding a second platform just adds fog. Fix your tracking first; the guide onwhat a good cost per lead looks likecovers the basics.
How to test it without wasting money
The barrier to trying Microsoft Advertising is lower than people assume, because you do not have to build anything from scratch:
- Import your Google campaigns.Bing Ads has a built-in import tool that copies your Google Ads campaigns, keywords and ads straight across. Review the bids and budgets afterwards rather than accepting every default, but the heavy lifting is done in minutes.
- Set a modest test budget.A sensible starting point is 10 to 20 percent of your Google spend. Enough to gather data, small enough that a bad month is a cheap lesson.
- Run it for four to six weeks.Search volume on Bing is lower, so results take longer to settle. Good campaign management means waiting for the data. Judging it after a week tells you nothing.
- Judge it on cost per enquiry, not cost per click.Cheap clicks that never convert are expensive. The number that matters is what a phone call or form fill cost you, compared with the same lead from Google.
- Keep what works, bin what does not.If Bing leads come in cheaper and convert just as well, raise the budget. If volume is too thin or the leads are poor, pause it and put the money back into Google or intothe SEO versus ads decision.
The bottom line
If you are already paying for Google Ads and it is working, Bing Ads is one of the cheapest experiments in digital marketing. The setup is an import, the audience is more desktop and more B2B than Google’s, and the auction is quieter. It will never replace Google for volume, but it does not need to. It only needs to deliver leads at a lower cost than your alternative, earning its place as a supplemental channel, and for a lot of small businesses it does exactly that.
If you would rather someone ran the test for you, that is the kind of thing we do every week, alongside the question ofwhether to run ads yourself or pay someone to manage them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bing Ads the same thing as Microsoft Advertising?
Yes. Microsoft renamed Bing Ads to Microsoft Advertising in 2019. The Bing Ads still appear on Bing, plus partner search engines like Yahoo and DuckDuckGo and placements across Microsoft products. People use both names interchangeably.
Will advertising on Bing cannibalise my Google results?
No. They are separate auctions on separate search engines. A Bing ad does not affect your Google ad position, your Quality Score or your organic rankings on either platform. It simply puts you in front of searchers Google does not reach.
How much should I spend on Microsoft Advertising?
Start with 10 to 20 percent of whatever you spend on Google Ads, for four to six weeks. If your Google Ads budget is very small, fix Google Ads first rather than splitting a small pot two ways.
Do people really still use Bing?
Yes, particularly on desktops. StatCounter’s September 2026 data puts Bing at roughly 18% of UK desktop searches, largely because it is the default in the Edge browser on Windows. That is millions of searches a day, and most advertisers ignore them.
Can I just copy my Google Ads campaign across?
Almost. The Bing Ads import tool copies campaigns, keywords, ads and most settings directly from Google Ads. You still need to review budgets and bids, and check that your tracking and conversions are set up on the Microsoft side before spending.
Sources and checks
- StatCounter Global Stats, Desktop search engine market share, United Kingdom, September 2026: https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/desktop/united-kingdom
- StatCounter Global Stats, Search engine market share, all devices, United Kingdom, September 2026: https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/all/united-kingdom
- Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn profile targeting in Microsoft Advertising: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/advertising/msa-help/hlp_ba_conc_linkedintargeting
- Bamsh Knowledge Centre: How much should a small business spend on Google Ads? https://bamsh.co.uk/how-much-should-a-small-business-spend-on-google-ads/
- Bamsh Knowledge Centre: What is a good cost per lead from Google Ads? https://bamsh.co.uk/what-is-a-good-cost-per-lead-from-google-ads/
Sources checked 30 October 2026.
