Service
Bing Ads: a second search account, judged on its own numbers.
Google gets the first dollar, and it should. Bing is where we'd test the next one. Our read is that Microsoft's search network is smaller and easy to ignore, which is the whole case for trying it and the whole reason to keep the bet modest.
A smaller room, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Bing Ads goes by Microsoft Advertising now, though we find few owners call it that. Your ads can appear on Bing and on search partner sites such as Yahoo, AOL and DuckDuckGo. Bing is the default search in Edge, the browser that comes with Windows. We'd guess plenty of people never change a default, and our read is that this explains a good part of who is there.
You will hear two claims for it: cheaper clicks and older homeowners with money. Either may hold in your market. We don't have a figure we'd sign, so we won't type one here. Microsoft's own reports can break results out by age group and device, so once the account has run a while, you'll be reading about your own customers and not our sales talk.
The downside is plain. We'd expect fewer searches than on Google, so a small account can only absorb so much budget. If you need more volume than Bing can supply, that is a Google Ads conversation.
The customer at a desk.
Here is the part most Bing pitches skip. Windows lives on desks, so we'd expect more of this traffic to come from a computer than you see on Google. Check that against your own device report. A tap-to-call link means little to someone sitting at a keyboard, possibly at work, possibly with a coworker in earshot, looking up a leaking toilet.
That person needs another way in, and many pages don't have one. In our Phoenix-area sample of 487 business sites, a phone link was the only way in on 49% of homepages. Only 8% offered online booking on the homepage. 31% had a form of any kind, newsletter sign-ups included.
So before we spend your money here, we look at what a desktop visitor can do. Every website package includes lead form capture and online booking. A dedicated landing page can carry both. If your form exists and nobody hears from it, that is a repair.
Import first, then disagree with it.
Microsoft offers a tool that imports campaigns from Google Ads. We'd expect it to save setup time, and it brings your mistakes along with your keywords. So we'd want Google clean first, and an audit is the short way to get there if nobody has checked it lately.
After the import we go through budgets, bids, locations and negative lists by hand. A setting that suited Google may not suit a smaller network. Microsoft gets its own conversion tag, and calls get counted the way they are in our conversion tracking work, so the two reports can sit side by side and be compared honestly.
One thing worth testing if you sell to businesses.
Microsoft offers targeting built on LinkedIn profile data: company, industry and job function, where it is available. It says no ad platform besides LinkedIn itself offers this. Microsoft also says it adjusts your bids and doesn't narrow who can see the ad, so a company target won't shut out everyone else. For a firm selling to other firms, a manufacturer, a logistics company or a commercial builder, it may be the best reason to open the account at all, in our view. We'd check what your account can use and test it small.
What it costs, and when to stop.
The fee starts from $575 a month, and complexity, setup and budget decide the rest. Your ad spend is paid to Microsoft directly. If we already run your Google account, the tracking and pages exist, so there is less to set up, and the quote will say so. The pricing page lists the other published prices.
This is a test, and a test can fail. If Bing doesn't produce jobs at a cost you'd accept, we'll say so and you can turn it off. You lose a modest budget and gain a fact, which is more than most marketing leaves you with.
How it works
How the test runs.
Check the first account
We look at Google before copying anything from it. If the searches, negatives or tracking are off, those get fixed first, so the problems don't move with you.
Import and correct
Campaigns come over with Microsoft's import tool. Then we set budgets, bids, locations and negative lists by hand for a smaller network.
Tag it and check the desk
Microsoft's conversion tag and whatever call tracking suits your setup go in and get tested. We make sure a visitor on a desktop computer has a way to reach you besides a phone link.
Compare, then decide
Both channels get reported side by side in calls, forms and booked jobs. Budget moves to whichever is earning it, and Bing stays only if it pays its way.
Instrumental in driving our company growth through expert management of our Google and Microsoft Ads.
They made the technical side feel clear.
We talked about goals first — then platforms, content, search, and automation.
Price it in a minute
Bing Ads: price the second channel.
A few taps and a starting price shows on screen. Tell us if Google is already running, because that changes the setup. Ad spend goes to Microsoft. The developer follows up by phone, text or email, your pick.
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Bing Ads: questions we hear a lot.
I already run Google Ads. Why add Bing?
It may earn a place as a second channel, never as a replacement. We can't tell you until it has run in your market, which is why we treat it as a test with a modest budget. Get your Google account tracking properly first, or you'll have nothing to compare it against.
Are the clicks really cheaper?
You'll hear that from a lot of people, and it may be true for your searches in your area. We won't quote a number we can't source. Fewer bidders would point that way, in our view, and your own account will settle it within a reasonable test.
Are Bing users really older homeowners?
That is the reputation. We have no study we'd stand behind, so we report what your account shows. Microsoft's reports can break results out by age group and device. If you do sell to homeowners, it helps to have pages built for them, which is what our home-service web design covers.
Can you copy my Google Ads campaigns over?
Microsoft has an import tool, and we use it as a first draft. Then we go through everything by hand, because what suits Google may not suit a smaller network. An import also copies any errors, which is a good reason to look before you press the button.
Where do the ads appear?
On Bing and on search partner sites such as Yahoo, AOL and DuckDuckGo, and on other Microsoft placements depending on your campaign settings. For a local business, we'd expect the search placements to matter most, since those people are looking for the service. We keep or drop the rest according to what produces calls.
What does Bing Ads management cost?
It starts from $575 a month, depending on complexity, setup and budget, with ad spend paid to Microsoft directly. Adding it to a Google account we already run is usually a smaller job. See the pricing page.
How will I know if it's working?
We count calls, forms and booked jobs where your systems allow, and report them next to Google's so you can compare. Clicks don't enter into it. The ROI calculator will show you what a job has to be worth for the channel to make sense.
Run the test before you trust the rumor.
Tell us what you run on Google today and what a job is worth. We'll say whether Bing is worth a test for you, and what the test costs.