Microsoft Ads: The Most Underrated Advertising Platform in 2026

By Marcus Chen

Performance Marketing Specialists Reviewed by Senior Media Buyers

Published June 23, 2026Updated July 9, 2026

Updated 4 April 2026, 12 min read

Whilst advertisers obsess over Google Ads, Meta, and TikTok, Microsoft Ads quietly delivers some of the best ROAS in digital advertising. Lower competition means lower CPCs. An older, higher-income audience means higher conversion values. And direct Google Ads import means setup takes minutes, not days. If you are not running Microsoft Ads alongside your Google campaigns, you are leaving money on the table.

Why Microsoft Ads Deserves Your Budget

Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) reaches searchers across the Microsoft ecosystem, Bing, Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo, and Microsoft Edge's default search. Combined, this network serves over 1 billion monthly unique searchers. More importantly, these searchers have a distinctly different profile from Google's audience:

• Higher income: 46% of Bing searchers have household incomes above USD 75,000, compared to the national average of 33%
• Older demographics: 71% of Bing users are 35+ years old. This audience has higher purchasing power and brand loyalty
• Desktop-heavy: 65% of Bing searches happen on desktop, which typically converts at higher rates than mobile
• Less competition: Average CPCs are 30-50% lower than equivalent Google Ads keywords
• LinkedIn integration: Target by company, industry, and job function through LinkedIn profile data, unique to Microsoft Ads

The Cost Advantage

These savings aren't the result of lower quality traffic. Conversion rates on Microsoft Ads are comparable to Google Ads, and in some verticals, higher. The cost advantage comes purely from lower advertiser competition. Most advertisers overlook Microsoft Ads, creating an arbitrage opportunity for those who participate.

Import Your Google Ads Campaigns in Minutes

Microsoft Ads offers a direct import tool that copies your Google Ads campaigns, structure, keywords, ads, bid adjustments, and targeting, directly into your Microsoft Ads account. The process takes 5-10 minutes and gets you up and running immediately with your proven campaign structure.

Steps to import:

• Sign in to your Microsoft Ads account
• Navigate to Import > Import from Google Ads
• Connect your Google Ads account and select campaigns to import
• Review bid adjustments, we recommend starting bids at 80% of Google levels
• Set up scheduled imports to automatically sync changes from Google

After import, review your campaigns for Microsoft-specific opportunities. LinkedIn audience targeting, in-market audiences, and Microsoft Audience Network placements are unique features worth configuring separately from your Google campaigns.

LinkedIn Profile Targeting: Microsoft's Secret Weapon

Microsoft Ads is the only search advertising platform that lets you target by LinkedIn profile data. You can layer job function, industry, and company targeting on top of your keyword campaigns. This is transformative for B2B advertisers who want search intent combined with professional demographic precision.

For example, you can bid higher when a searcher for 'CRM software' is also a VP of Sales at a company with 200+ employees. This combination of search intent and professional targeting is impossible on Google Ads and makes Microsoft Ads uniquely valuable for B2B lead generation.

Best Verticals for Microsoft Ads

• B2B and professional services: LinkedIn targeting + search intent + older demographics = high-quality leads
• Finance and insurance: Higher-income audience actively researching financial products. CPCs 45% lower than Google
• Healthcare: Older demographic profile matches healthcare decision-makers. Strong local targeting capabilities
• Legal services: Some of the highest Google Ads CPCs. Microsoft delivers similar quality at 50% lower cost
• Real estate: Desktop-heavy audience researching properties. Strong geographic targeting
• Education: Professionals and adults researching continuing education and degree programmes

Getting Started with Microsoft Ads

The fastest path to Microsoft Ads results is importing your proven Google Ads campaigns. If you're starting fresh, begin with your top 5-10 performing Google keywords and expand from there. Keep daily budgets modest (£20-£50/campaign) during the learning phase and scale based on CPA performance.

For advertisers who want to maximise their Microsoft Ads performance, Unled Network provides established Microsoft Ads accounts with clean compliance history and managed campaign services across both Google and Microsoft platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions