Google Ads dominates paid search. That’s not controversial. But Microsoft Ads has quietly built a network that reaches far more people than most advertisers realise, often at a fraction of the cost. Choosing between them isn’t really an either-or decision for most businesses. It’s about understanding where each platform delivers the best return and allocating budget accordingly.
At Gorilla Marketing, we manage both platforms across a wide range of industries. We’ve seen accounts where Microsoft Ads outperforms Google on cost per acquisition by a significant margin, and others where Google is the only game worth playing. This guide breaks down the real differences, gives you a framework for deciding where to invest, and includes a practical 30-day testing plan if you want to trial Microsoft alongside your existing Google campaigns.
The Quick Answer
Both platforms have genuine value, but they serve different strengths.
Google Ads is the default choice for reach. It covers the vast majority of search traffic, and for many consumer-facing businesses, that volume is non-negotiable. If you need to get in front of the largest possible audience, Google is where you start.
Microsoft Ads wins on cost efficiency and niche audience targeting. CPCs tend to be significantly lower, the audience skews towards higher earners and decision-makers, and its LinkedIn profile targeting is something Google simply can’t match. For B2B advertisers and certain professional services, Microsoft can deliver better ROI per pound spent.
Most businesses that run paid search seriously end up using both. The question is how you split the budget.
How Do the Two Platforms Compare on Reach?
Google processes roughly 90% of search queries in the UK. That’s an enormous share, and it’s the main reason most advertisers start there. When people say “search advertising,” they usually mean Google.
Microsoft’s own search engine, Bing, sits at around 3-4% of UK search market share on its own. That sounds small. But Microsoft Ads doesn’t just serve Bing. The Microsoft Search Network also powers search results on Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and AOL. It’s the default search engine on Microsoft Edge, which comes pre-installed on every Windows PC. And with Copilot integrating Bing results into Windows and Microsoft 365, that footprint is growing.
When you add the partner network together, Microsoft Ads typically reaches around 7-10% of search traffic in the UK, depending on the industry. That’s tens of millions of monthly searches. Not Google-level, but far from negligible, especially when the competition for those clicks is thinner.
The lower competition is actually a key advantage. Fewer advertisers bidding on Microsoft means less auction pressure, which feeds directly into lower costs.
What’s the Cost Difference Between Google Ads and Microsoft Ads?
This is where Microsoft gets interesting. On average, CPCs on Microsoft Ads tend to run 30-70% lower than equivalent Google Ads campaigns. That’s a wide range because it varies heavily by industry, keyword competitiveness, and geography.
Some patterns hold fairly consistently though:
Legal and financial keywords, which are brutally expensive on Google, often see the steepest discounts on Microsoft
B2B terms tend to be significantly cheaper, partly because fewer B2B advertisers have bothered setting up Microsoft campaigns
Highly competitive consumer terms (insurance, loans, energy) still show meaningful savings, though the gap narrows
Very low-volume niches sometimes see similar CPCs on both platforms because there’s so little auction data
It’s worth being honest here. Lower CPCs don’t automatically mean better ROI. If the traffic doesn’t convert, cheap clicks are just cheap waste. The cost advantage only matters if the audience quality holds up. For many advertisers, it does. But you need to test it for your specific market, which is why we’ll cover a testing framework later.
Who Actually Uses Microsoft Search?
The audience demographics on Microsoft’s network differ meaningfully from Google’s, and this is one of the most underappreciated aspects of the platform.
Age and income: Microsoft’s audience skews older (35+) and more affluent compared to Google’s broader spread. A significant portion of Bing users are professionals searching from work devices where Edge is the default browser and nobody’s changed it. That’s not a criticism of the audience. It’s actually a feature for certain advertisers.
Desktop vs mobile: Microsoft is heavily desktop-weighted. Most of its traffic comes from desktop searches, while Google’s traffic is now majority mobile. If your product or service converts better on desktop (B2B SaaS, professional services, high-consideration purchases), Microsoft’s device mix works in your favour.
B2B relevance: Because Microsoft powers the default browser on most corporate machines, business decision-makers are disproportionately represented in the audience. Combine that with LinkedIn profile targeting (job title, company, industry) and you’ve got a B2B advertising channel that Google can’t replicate.
Geographic variation: Microsoft’s market share is higher in certain demographics and regions. It tends to perform better with older professionals and in sectors where Windows desktop usage is dominant, like finance, legal, and government.
How Do the Ad Formats and Features Compare?
Google Ads has a broader range of ad formats and more mature features. That’s the straightforward truth. It got there first, has more engineers working on it, and processes more data.
Where Google leads:
Performance Max campaigns with full cross-channel automation
More sophisticated audience signals and bidding strategies
Larger display and video network (YouTube integration)
Better mobile ad formats and extensions
More granular geographic targeting options
Demand Gen campaigns for upper-funnel discovery
Where Microsoft holds its own or leads:
LinkedIn profile targeting (exclusive to Microsoft) for job title, company size, and industry
Campaign import tool that lets you mirror Google campaigns in minutes
Native integration with Microsoft 365 and Copilot
Multimedia ads that blend image and text in search results
Audience network ads on MSN, Outlook.com, and Microsoft Edge
Often faster approval times and more responsive support for smaller accounts
Broadly equivalent:
Responsive search ads (both platforms use essentially the same format)
Shopping campaigns and product feeds
Remarketing and audience targeting fundamentals
Conversion tracking and automated bidding
Ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets)
The feature gap has narrowed considerably over the past few years. Microsoft has invested heavily in parity, and for standard search campaigns, the day-to-day experience of managing both platforms is very similar.
When Is Google Ads the Better Choice?
Google Ads is the stronger platform when:
You need volume. If your business model depends on high lead or sale volumes, Google’s 90%+ search share means there’s simply more inventory available. Microsoft can supplement, but it can’t replace Google for scale.
You’re targeting consumers broadly. For e-commerce, local services, and consumer products, Google’s mobile-heavy traffic matches how most people search and buy. Shopping campaigns on Google also benefit from far more product listing inventory.
Local advertising matters. Google’s integration with Google Business Profile, Maps, and local pack results gives it a significant edge for location-based businesses. Microsoft has local ad options, but the ecosystem isn’t as tightly connected.
You’re running video or display. YouTube and the Google Display Network give you access to brand awareness and upper-funnel campaigns that Microsoft can’t match at scale.
Your audience is mobile-first. If most of your conversions happen on mobile devices, Google’s traffic mix is better aligned with that behaviour.
When Is Microsoft Ads the Better Choice?
Microsoft Ads tends to outperform when:
You’re in B2B. LinkedIn profile targeting is genuinely powerful. Being able to target by job title, company size, or industry on a search platform is unique to Microsoft. If you’re selling to procurement managers or IT directors, this is a real advantage.
You’re in legal, finance, or professional services. These industries see some of the highest CPCs on Google. Microsoft often delivers the same qualified traffic at a meaningfully lower cost, and the audience demographics (older, desktop, professional) align well with these sectors.
Budget is tight. If you’re working with a limited paid search budget, Microsoft lets you stretch further. Lower CPCs mean more clicks for the same spend, and the reduced competition can mean better ad positions too.
You want to reach desktop-heavy audiences. For products or services with longer consideration cycles where people research on desktop during work hours, Microsoft’s traffic profile is a natural fit.
You’re already running Google and want incremental reach. Microsoft’s audience isn’t entirely overlapping with Google’s. Some users genuinely default to Bing or its partner engines. Adding Microsoft captures searches you’d otherwise miss entirely.
Running Both Platforms Together
Most experienced PPC teams run both platforms. The question is how to manage them efficiently.
Campaign import is the easiest way to get started. Microsoft Ads has a built-in import tool that pulls your Google Ads campaigns directly, including ad copy, keywords, bids, and targeting. It’s not perfect. You’ll want to review and adjust bids (usually lowering them), check that all extensions transferred correctly, and remove any campaigns that don’t make sense on a smaller-volume network.
A common starting point is a 70/30 budget split between Google and Microsoft. That roughly mirrors the difference in available search volume while giving Microsoft enough budget to generate meaningful data. From there, you adjust based on actual performance. Some accounts end up at 80/20, others at 60/40. Let the conversion data guide you, not a fixed ratio.
Practical tips for running both:
Don’t just clone and forget. Microsoft’s audience behaves differently, so monitor performance independently.
Bid adjustments will be different. You’ll typically need lower bids on Microsoft to hit similar positions.
Check device performance separately. Microsoft’s desktop skew means your mobile bid adjustments may need changing.
Use Microsoft’s LinkedIn targeting on top of your imported campaigns. That’s incremental value you can’t get from Google.
Schedule regular reviews of both platforms together so you can shift budget toward whichever is delivering better results.
A 30-Day Testing Framework for Microsoft Ads
If you’re currently running Google Ads only and want to trial Microsoft Ads properly, here’s a structured approach.
Week 1: Setup and Import
Import your top-performing Google Ads campaigns (not everything, just the campaigns with proven conversion data)
Reduce imported bids by 20-30% to account for Microsoft’s lower auction pressure
Set up conversion tracking independently, not just relying on imported goals
Verify all ad extensions transferred correctly
Set a daily budget that’s roughly 20-30% of what you spend on the equivalent Google campaigns
Week 2: Monitor and Adjust
Check impression share. If it’s very high (above 80%), your bids might still be too aggressive for the lower competition
Review search term reports. Microsoft’s audience may use slightly different query patterns
Add any Microsoft-specific negatives that come up
If you’re B2B, layer LinkedIn targeting onto at least one campaign to test its impact
Week 3: Optimise
Compare CPC, conversion rate, and cost per acquisition against your Google benchmarks
Adjust bids based on actual Microsoft data, not Google assumptions
Pause any ad groups that aren’t generating impressions (low-volume queries may not have enough Microsoft traffic)
Test any Microsoft-exclusive ad formats like multimedia ads
Week 4: Evaluate and Decide
Pull a side-by-side report: impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, CPA, and ROAS for the same campaigns on both platforms
Calculate the incremental value. Did Microsoft bring in conversions you wouldn’t have gotten from Google, or did it just split existing demand?
Decide whether to continue, scale up, or pause. There’s no shame in pausing if the numbers don’t work for your specific business
Four weeks gives you enough data for most accounts to make an informed decision. Very low-volume campaigns may need six to eight weeks to gather statistically meaningful results.
Attribution and Reporting Differences
One thing that trips up advertisers running both platforms is attribution. Google and Microsoft don’t report conversions in exactly the same way, and if you’re not careful, you can double-count or misattribute.
Conversion windows differ by default. Google Ads uses a 30-day click-through conversion window as standard, while Microsoft defaults to the same but offers different configuration options. Make sure your settings match across both platforms so you’re comparing like for like.
Cross-platform attribution is the bigger challenge. A user might click a Microsoft ad, not convert, then click a Google ad a week later and buy. Both platforms will claim that conversion. Using a single source of truth, whether that’s Google Analytics 4, a CRM, or another analytics tool, helps you understand the actual customer journey rather than relying on each platform’s self-reported numbers.
Assisted conversions matter here too. Microsoft Ads often plays a role earlier in the funnel, introducing users to your brand before they convert through another channel. If you only look at last-click attribution, you’ll undervalue Microsoft’s contribution.
Set up UTM parameters consistently across both platforms and use your analytics tool to build a unified view of performance. Platform-native reporting is useful for optimisation, but your overall budget decisions should be based on a single attribution model.
Making the Right Choice for Your Business
There’s no universal answer to which platform is better. It depends on your industry, audience, budget, and goals.
If you’re a consumer brand that needs volume, Google Ads is your primary platform. Full stop. But even then, Microsoft Ads can add incremental reach at lower cost.
If you’re a B2B company, professional services firm, or operating in a high-CPC industry, Microsoft Ads deserves serious consideration. The combination of lower costs, professional demographics, and LinkedIn targeting can make it the more efficient platform for your specific audience.
And if you’ve got the budget and operational capacity, running both is almost always the best approach. The 30-day testing framework above gives you a low-risk way to find out whether Microsoft adds genuine value for your business. Start small, measure properly, and let the data decide.
The biggest mistake we see is advertisers who’ve never tested Microsoft because Google is “good enough.” Good enough isn’t the same as optimised. Even a modest improvement in overall CPA from adding a second platform compounds over time into meaningful savings.
