Microsoft Ads
Microsoft's advertising platform for ads on the Bing search network, on Microsoft partner sites and across Microsoft's own services.
Also known as: Bing Ads, Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Ads is Microsoft's advertising platform and delivers ads on the Bing search network, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo search results, Microsoft sites such as MSN and Outlook and many partner sites. It works much like Google Ads with keywords, bids and a quality score. Cost per click is often lower, but the search volume is smaller.
How the platform is structured
As with other search ad systems, advertisers buy ads at the keyword level and define ad copy and bids per click or per conversion. Microsoft Ads also offers audience targeting based on LinkedIn data, which is a unique advantage in the B2B segment. Classic display, video and shopping formats are available too.
When Microsoft Ads pay off
Microsoft Ads tend to pay off in industries with heavy search competition on Google, because the click price on Bing is often lower. The audience profile differs slightly as well, with a higher share of desktop users and older people. For B2B advertising the LinkedIn targeting is a key lever that is not available anywhere else this directly.
In everyday marketing
In day to day marketing Microsoft Ads usually runs in parallel with Google Ads, on shared goal and conversion structures. Performance data integrates well into reporting stacks, so you can compare clicks and conversions across channels. Numbers then decide where the next euro of budget goes.