You've got Google Ads running and it's doing its job. Then someone, maybe a vendor, maybe a competitor, asks the question: "Are you on Bing?"
It's a reasonable thing to wonder, and it's worth a straight answer. This guide to Google Ads vs Bing Ads covers what the two platforms are, how they differ and how to find out, cheaply, whether Bing deserves a share of your budget.
One quick note on the name. Bing Ads is now called Microsoft Advertising. Microsoft renamed it a few years ago, but most people still search for the old name, so we use both here.
Google Ads vs Bing Ads: the short version
- Google Ads reaches the most searchers and offers the widest range of formats, targeting and remarketing options. For most businesses, it's the first platform to set up.
- Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) reaches fewer people, but usually with less competition. That can mean lower costs for some businesses and a different mix of customers.
Neither is simply better, and anyone who tells you otherwise without looking at your market is guessing. They're different audiences with different price tags, and the right answer depends on your market.
What each platform actually is
Google Ads places your ads on Google Search and across Google's other properties, such as Maps and YouTube, plus partner sites. You choose the searches or audiences, set a budget and pay when someone clicks.
Microsoft Advertising does the same thing for Bing search and Microsoft's partner network. Because Bing powers some other search experiences, your ads can reach people who never typed "bing" anywhere. People often land there by default through Windows and Microsoft's Edge browser without ever choosing it.
The mechanics will feel familiar: you bid on keywords, write ads, add extensions such as sitelinks and phone numbers, and send people to a page on your website. Both platforms also care about relevance, so the page you send them to matters as much as the ad itself.
Reach and audience
This is the biggest difference, and the part where people get tempted to quote statistics. We're not going to, because market share numbers shift and vary by country, device and who's counting. Microsoft publishes information about its own audience, and it's worth reading from the source at Microsoft Advertising, but here's the sturdy version:
- Google reaches far more searchers. If you need maximum volume, or your service is niche and every searcher counts, it's the main platform.
- Bing reaches a meaningful but smaller group. Microsoft has described its audience as skewing toward desktop use and toward people who stick with the defaults on their computers.
- Treat any demographic claim as a hint. Your own account data will tell you who actually responds.
If your customers are younger or live on their phones, start with Google. If they're office workers, professionals or older customers who use Windows computers at their desk, Bing deserves a look sooner.
Where the platforms differ in practice
Cost and competition
Fewer advertisers are bidding on Bing in many categories, which can lower your cost per click. Don't assume it, though. In some industries the gap is large, in others it's small, and the cheaper click only matters if it still turns into a lead.
Targeting and controls
Both let you target by location, device, time of day and audience. Microsoft Advertising has also offered some options Google doesn't, such as finer targeting by factors like company or industry in certain setups, and the available options change often. If you need very specific controls, check what each platform offers for your account before you build around it.
Ads and extensions
Both support sitelinks, callouts, phone numbers, images and other additions that make an ad bigger and more useful. Fuller ads tend to earn more attention, so use whatever each platform allows. A phone number extension is especially worth adding if your best leads come from calls, since it lets people reach you straight from the results.
Tracking
Both can track what happens after the click, but you have to set it up. Google connects tightly with Google Analytics, while Microsoft uses its own tracking tag. Set up conversion tracking on both before you spend a cent. Otherwise you'll only know you paid for clicks, not whether anyone called.
Remarketing
Google has the wider network and more formats for showing ads to past visitors. Microsoft supports remarketing as well. If it's a major part of your plan, Google usually has the edge.
Ease of use
Both are manageable once you know the basics. If you've set up one, the other will feel familiar, and Microsoft's import tool can copy your Google campaigns across so you aren't starting from scratch.
Which one gives better results?
You'll often read that Bing has lower costs and strong conversion rates. Sometimes that's true. The catch is volume: it can't deliver as many clicks as Google, so it's rarely a replacement.
So skip the general claims. Costs and conversion rates change by industry, location and season, and the numbers that count are your own. That's why a small test beats any article, including this one.
Who should skip Bing for now
Honesty time. Plenty of businesses shouldn't bother yet.
If your Google campaigns aren't converting, adding a second platform just doubles the confusion. Fix the basics first: the right keywords, ads that match what people searched for and a landing page that makes the next step obvious.
If your budget is small, spreading it across two platforms can leave each one too thin to learn anything. A tight Google campaign will usually teach you more than two half-funded ones.
And if your customers are mostly young and mobile, or your service is so local and niche that only a handful of people search for it each month, Bing probably won't add much. In that case, spend the time on your Google Business Profile and on getting your site to convert before you chase a second ad platform.
Mistakes we see when businesses add Bing
A few patterns show up again and again:
- Importing and forgetting. The import tool is a shortcut, not a finished campaign. Check match types, locations, ad text and bids after the import, because platforms don't treat every setting the same way.
- Judging too early. A week of data is noise. Give the campaign time, and compare against what you expect to pay for a lead, not just against Google.
- Skipping the tracking. If you can't see calls and form fills, you can't tell whether the cheaper clicks were worth it.
- Copying Google's budget. Start smaller. The goal of the test is information, not volume.
How to test Bing without wasting budget
A low-risk approach:
- Get Google Ads working first. Without clean conversion tracking and a landing page that converts, you're only copying a problem.
- Import your best campaigns into Microsoft Advertising. It's quick. Review what comes across, since settings and ad formats don't always match one for one.
- Give Bing a smaller slice of the budget. Enough to gather meaningful data, not enough to hurt if it flops.
- Run both for several weeks. Search campaigns need time to settle.
- Compare cost per lead, not clicks. A cheap click that never calls you is expensive.
- Move budget toward the winner. Tailor ads for each platform as you learn.
If Bing doesn't work for you, you've lost little and learned something real. If it does, you've found a second source of leads that doesn't depend on Google alone.
Choosing for your business
- Start with Google when you need volume, your audience is younger or mobile, or remarketing matters most.
- Add Bing when your Google clicks are expensive, your audience skews toward desktop and Windows users, or you'd like a second source of leads.
- Use both when your budget allows a proper test and you'd rather not depend on one platform.
Whichever you choose, the destination matters as much as the ad. If people click and the page is slow or confusing, the platform isn't the problem. See why your website isn't generating leads for the usual culprits, and our comparison of SEO vs PPC if you're also deciding between paid and organic.
If you'd like help setting up, testing and tracking campaigns, our Google Ads management covers setup through reporting. Book a Discovery Call and we'll tell you honestly whether Bing is worth your time yet, or whether your first budget belongs somewhere else.