If you ask a small business owner about paid search in 2026, they will say Google Ads. If you ask a PPC professional, they will say Google Ads plus Microsoft Ads, every time. The gap between these two views is one of the most expensive blind spots in small business marketing.
Microsoft Ads (the platform formerly known as Bing Ads) has been quietly building real share over the last 3 years. It now serves ads across Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, AOL, Edge, and a growing list of partner properties including some surprising ones.
The Audience Microsoft Owns That Google Does Not
Microsoft Ads has access to two audience pools that nobody else can match:
Default Edge and Bing Users
Around 30 percent of UK office workers never change the defaults. That is a huge pool of B2B searches and during work hours decisions.
LinkedIn Profile Targeting
Microsoft owns LinkedIn. You can target Microsoft Ads by job title, industry, company size, even employer. Nobody else has this.
Higher Income Demographics
Microsoft Ads users skew 35 plus, with higher household income than Google's average.
Less Competition
Many advertisers ignore Microsoft Ads entirely. Cost per click on service keywords is often 30 to 50 percent lower than Google.
Where Microsoft Ads Delivers the Biggest Wins
In our experience managing both platforms across hundreds of accounts, Microsoft Ads consistently outperforms Google in three scenarios:
- B2B services and software. The LinkedIn integration alone is worth the test. You can layer "Decision maker at Financial Services company with 200 plus employees" on top of standard keyword targeting.
- Premium home services. Boilers, windows, conservatories, solar, kitchens. The demographic skew matches and the lower CPC stretches budget.
- Professional services. Solicitors, accountants, consultants, financial advisers. The over 35 audience tends to convert better here.
The Specific Settings That Matter
If you have decided to test Microsoft Ads, three settings are critical to get right out of the gate:
- Disable Audience Network at first. Microsoft Audience Network is display style traffic. Useful eventually, but it will eat your search budget if you leave it on while you are still learning.
- Watch the Dynamic Search Ads. Imported from Google these can crawl your site and create odd matches. Pause them until you have audited the auto generated keywords.
- Set Manual CPC initially. Imported automated bid strategies from Google have no data on Microsoft and will under perform. Set Manual CPC, then move to Enhanced CPC after 30 days.
The Import Trick
You do not need to rebuild your account. Microsoft Ads has a free Google Ads import that pulls campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, and negatives directly. The process takes about 20 minutes for most accounts.
Important: Schedule the sync to run weekly so changes you make in Google flow through. But always treat Microsoft as a separate optimisation channel after the initial import. Different audience, different winners.
Budget Allocation in 2026
For most small businesses with a PPC budget over £500 a month, the split that works well is:
| Total PPC Budget | Google Ads | Microsoft Ads |
|---|---|---|
| £300 to £500 per month | 100% | Skip, too thin to learn |
| £500 to £1,500 per month | 80% | 20% |
| £1,500 to £5,000 per month | 70% | 30% |
| £5,000 plus per month | 60 to 70% | 30 to 40% |
Where Microsoft Ads Disappoints
Be realistic. Microsoft Ads is not magic. It under delivers in three areas:
- Volume. If you need 1,000 plus clicks a day on a niche keyword, Microsoft will not get there.
- Mobile shopping. Google still dominates mobile shopping by a wide margin.
- Younger audiences. Anything aimed at under 30s is firmly Google territory.
The LinkedIn Targeting Edge
This is the one capability worth its own paragraph. Inside any Microsoft Ads campaign, you can layer LinkedIn profile targeting:
- By job function (e.g. Finance, IT, Marketing)
- By industry (e.g. Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail)
- By company size
- By specific company (yes, you can target Goldman Sachs employees)
You set these as bid modifiers, not exclusions. So you can keep your campaign open but bid 50 percent more on a specific job title. For B2B advertisers, this is a genuine unfair advantage that does not exist on any other platform.
Real example: A SaaS client of ours targets "CRM" keywords on both Google and Microsoft. On Google, cost per lead averages £180. On Microsoft with LinkedIn job title overlays, cost per lead averages £95. Same offer, same landing pages.
How to Get Started in Under an Hour
If you already run Google Ads:
- Sign up at ads.microsoft.com (free)
- Import your Google Ads account (15 minutes)
- Audit and pause Dynamic Search Ads, Microsoft Audience Network, and any imported automated bidding
- Set Manual CPC, set a daily budget of £20 to £50, set location targeting
- Let it run for 30 days, then assess
The Verdict for 2026
Ignoring Microsoft Ads in 2026 leaves money on the table for most service businesses. The lower CPCs, demographic skew, and LinkedIn targeting make it worth at least a 30 day test for any account with a budget over £500 a month. We run both platforms as standard for our PPC clients. If you would like us to run an audit of where Microsoft Ads could fit in your current paid search mix, we offer a free assessment.
Brett Dixon
Founder & Managing Director of DPOM. Brett founded DPOM nearly 15 years ago after a career in marketing working with Harvey Nichols, BBC Top Gear, Formula One circuits, and UK Trade and Investment. His passion became helping smaller businesses grow, with honest advice, no jargon, and realistic expectations.
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