Microsoft Advertising for a small business: is it worth adding?

Short answer: If your Google Ads campaigns already turn a profit and you can measure conversions properly, Microsoft Advertising is usually worth a time-boxed test, because the import tool copies most of your setup in minutes. It's less worth it if your Google campaigns are still unprofitable or your tracking is shaky; another platform just multiplies the confusion. Run it as a controlled experiment with its own budget, its own conversion tag and a fixed review date.

Most small advertisers start on Google and never look further. That's sensible, but once Google is working, the question becomes whether there are more of the same searchers elsewhere at a cost that still makes sense. Microsoft's network is the obvious next place to look, and the effort to try it is lower than most owners expect.

The decision guide

Where your ads would appear

Microsoft says its Search ads can appear on Bing and on search partner sites including Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia, and, depending on campaign settings, across wider Microsoft Advertising Network placements. In 2026 Microsoft also began pitching its AI Max feature for Search campaigns as a way to reach people in Copilot Search and Copilot Answers as well as Bing. Check your campaign's distribution settings so you know which of these you have switched on, because partner and network traffic can behave very differently from Bing searches.

Who you'd reach (Microsoft's own claims)

Microsoft's search ads page quotes Comscore figures for the US: 6.4 billion monthly PC searches, 109 million unique PC users and a 38.1% PC search market share. Note the footnote: the data is from March 2023 and covers desktop traffic only. Treat it as Microsoft's sales pitch rather than a forecast for your account, but the desktop emphasis is a useful hint. Businesses whose customers search at work, on Windows PCs, tend to be the ones that see the most from this network.

Signs it's worth a test

Your Google Search campaigns hit their budget early in the day, and there's demand you aren't capturing.
You sell to office-based buyers: B2B services, professional services, software, trade suppliers.
Your conversion tracking already tells you cost per lead or return on ad spend reliably.
You have someone who will actually review a second account every week.

Signs to wait

Google campaigns aren't yet profitable. Fix the offer, landing page or targeting first.
You can't tell which leads came from ads at all.
Your budget is so small that splitting it would starve both platforms of data.
Your market is mostly mobile-first consumers. Search volume may simply be thin.

How to run a fair test

Give Microsoft Advertising a separate monthly budget rather than taking money away from campaigns that already work. Start with your best-performing Search campaigns only. Agree on one success measure, such as cost per qualified lead within the range you accept on Google, and decide in advance after how many weeks you'll judge it. Small accounts can take a while to collect enough conversions, so resist turning things off after a few days.

Import steps

Microsoft's Import tools page says you can bring campaigns from Google Ads (and from Meta Ads and Pinterest Ads) in a few clicks, import everything or selected campaigns, adjust bids and budgets during the import, and schedule recurring imports so later changes on Google sync across. It also lists Google Merchant Center, Shopping campaigns and Performance Max among the things you can import.

A sensible sequence for a small account:

Install Microsoft's conversion tag first. Microsoft calls it Universal Event Tracking (UET). It powers conversion tracking, remarketing and automated bidding, so imported campaigns that rely on conversion-based bidding need it in place.
Sign in and start an import from Google Ads. Choose only the campaigns you want to test. Leave experiments, brand tests and paused campaigns behind.
Set bids and budgets during import. Lower budgets than on Google are normal for a test.
Decide whether to schedule recurring imports. Useful if you change ads often on Google. Risky if you plan to tune the Microsoft campaigns separately, because a sync can overwrite your edits; check the import options carefully.
Review before going live. Microsoft's own guidance is to check budgets, bids, targeting, ad copy, URLs, conversion goals, tracking, audience settings and any import warnings, because not every setting imports exactly the same way.
Check distribution settings. Decide whether you want search partners and wider network placements in a first test, or just Bing.
Tag your URLs so analytics separates Microsoft traffic from Google traffic.

After two or three weeks, open the search terms report and add negative keywords, the same housekeeping you'd do on Google. Then compare against the success measure you set at the start.

FAQ

Is Microsoft Advertising the same as Bing Places?

No. Bing Places is a free business listing for local results; Microsoft Advertising is the paid ads platform. They're managed separately.

Do imported campaigns keep my Google conversion tracking?

No. Google's tag doesn't report to Microsoft. You need Microsoft's UET tag, or a tag manager setup that fires it, for conversions to be counted in Microsoft Advertising.

Will my ads show in Copilot?

Microsoft says it is building ad formats for Copilot surfaces and positions AI Max as a way to reach them, but availability and formats change, so check Microsoft's current help pages and your account settings rather than assuming a placement.

Can I import Performance Max and Shopping campaigns too?

Microsoft's Import tools page lists both, along with Merchant Center product offers. Review product feeds and campaign settings after import, just as you would for Search.

If you want help deciding whether a second search platform makes sense for your numbers, send us what your Google account looks like today.