Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) is Microsoft’s paid search and audience advertising platform with more than 100M daily active users. It places ads across Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, AOL, MSN, Outlook, and Microsoft Edge. Together these form the Microsoft Search Network, which reaches over 700 million unique users globally. Microsoft Search Network also includes other third party websites, owned and operated by Microsoft’s and Yahoo’s syndicated search partners.
Audience and reach
Microsoft’s audience skews older, more affluent, and more concentrated in professional roles than Google’s. LinkedIn Profile Targeting (available only through Microsoft Advertising) lets advertisers filter by job title, industry, and company size. No other ad platform outside LinkedIn offers this capability.
The network operates in 187 countries. Many of its users don’t overlap with Google’s audience. Microsoft Advertising delivers incremental reach rather than duplicating existing spend. B2B advertisers find the LinkedIn integration especially useful, since professional signals feed directly into targeting.
Cost-per-click
Microsoft Advertising platform works on CPC/CPM/oCPC/CPA, with global reach especially strong in US, UK, Canada, Australia and India. CPCs on Microsoft Advertising average 33% lower than Google Ads. Less competition on the network means advertisers often see stronger ROAS for the same budget. It’s a practical option for testing new keywords, entering new markets, or extending reach without increasing overall spend.
Ad formats
Microsoft Advertising supports search ads, shopping ads, display, video, and Connected TV. Responsive Search Ads work the same way as on Google. Advertisers provide multiple headlines and descriptions, and the platform assembles the best combinations automatically. Dynamic Search Ads generate ads from website content, covering queries that static campaigns might miss.
Performance Max campaigns run across all placements from a single campaign. In 2026, PMax added a customer acquisition mode. Advertisers can now target exclusively new customers or increase bids for them.
Audience targeting
In-market audiences reach users actively researching products or services. The platform identifies them based on search and browsing behaviour across the Microsoft network. Customer Match and lookalike audiences let advertisers target based on CRM data or existing customer profiles.
Content Targeting aligns Audience ads with specific categories like Finance, Travel, and Health. Remarketing lists re-engage users who visited a site. Combined with in-market audiences, these create layered targeting based on both intent and behaviour.
Campaign import
Advertisers can import campaigns directly from Google Ads. That removes the need to rebuild from scratch and makes it straightforward to run a consistent strategy across both platforms.