In September of 2012, Microsoft rebranded adCenter as Bing Ads, describing the move as "not just a new name, but an improved experience with new features to help you better manage your campaigns and complete tasks faster."

After eight years and another rebranding, Microsoft Advertising is still Google Ads' main rival in the sponsored search market. This is because they have comparable characteristics that vary in ways that help particular user demographics and groups.

However, in comparison to Google Ads, how successful are Microsoft Ads? Though Microsoft Ads has a lower cost per click and performs better for wealthier populations, Google Ads is the most well-known and has the widest reach. But what are the advantages of utilizing Microsoft Ads?

Benefits of Using Microsoft Advertising

Google Ads is frequently the first platform that comes to mind when discussing PPC advertising. However, there are a plethora of PPC platforms available, each with special advantages of their own, and Microsoft Ads is among the greatest substitutes for Google Ads.

Cost

It may be less expensive to use Microsoft Ads than Google Ads, depending on your budget. This is as a result of its lower cost-per-click (CPC). Though exact percentages vary, CPCs can be anywhere from 32.5% to 60.2% less expensive than Google Ads. Microsoft Ads may be the answer if you have to be extremely careful with your bid management and are working with a limited budget.

Less competition

Microsoft typically has less competition for its keywords. By doing this, you can reduce your cost-per-click, or CPC, and spend less money targeting people who have more disposable income. Campaigns running on Microsoft Advertising have about 36% less competition than those running on Google Ads, according to TheeDigital.

Market portion

Google dominates the search engine market. However, Microsoft Search Network maximizes its modest market share (complimentary Comscore qSearch data from December 2019, exclusive to worldwide desktop traffic):

• 12.2 billion desktop searches each month
• 592 million distinct desktop users
• 11.5% of desktop sales

When paired with less competition and cheaper CPCs on Microsoft Ads, this presents a significant potential for niche advertisers.

Target audiences

Similar to how Google Ads utilizes Google, Microsoft Ads makes use of Bing search. However, their intended markets are different. Approximately 75% of Bing users are over 35, and 50% make at least $75,000 annually. This is ideal for premium goods merchants.

Compared to users of other search engines, Bing users spend 22% more money on purchases, indicating that they have a better income.

In-market Audiences, another type of audience targeting offered by Microsoft Ads, employs customer lists of individuals who are ready to buy based on their purchase intent and previous Bing clicks. 

Device targeting

In terms of device targeting, Microsoft Ads is superior to Google Ads. With Bing, an organization may target a customer according to the OS and device model they are using. In a similar vein, Microsoft Ads provide advertisers the option to completely ignore desktop viewers and target only mobile visitors.

Ad compatibility for Google

In a few clicks, Microsoft Ads allows you to import a current Google Ads campaign into its platform, following the adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." You can avoid manually recreating a campaign that is successful by doing this.

Cons of utilizing Microsoft Ads Reach

Naturally, the biggest disadvantage of employing Microsoft Ads is that they have a smaller reach than Google Ads. Due to Google's greater market dominance—they own at least 93% of the search market—most firms will consider using Google Ads due to their popularity, regardless of their level of success or failure.

No match for customers (yet)

Customer Match, a feature unique to Google Ads that enables advertisers to generate and target customers from specific customer lists, is in the works for Microsoft Ads as well.

They can accomplish this by targeting clients across all of Google's networks, including Search, Display, and YouTube, and uploading contact information like email addresses.

Smart Shopping, another Google-only technology, automates bidding and ad placement to promote goods and services across several networks by fusing Shopping Ads with display retargeting.

Additionally, because it makes use of remarketing audiences, visitors who have already interacted with your site are more likely to convert.