Utilising a full PPC strategy to maximise your marketing potential.
Google Ads have always been known to be the dominant player in the PPC advertising space, utilised by most advertisers, however despite Microsoft’s Bing (or Microsoft Ads) bringing in over 3 billion monthly users, this high-traffic platform is commonly overlooked. Let’s look at Bing Ads vs Google Ads.
What is PPC advertising
Pay per click advertising is a model in where marketers pay for clicks to their site to increase website traffic and to generate additional conversions. Unlike organic advertising each new customer comes at a cost, however with the correct targeting and optimisations this can lead to increased revenue, brand exposure and business growth.
PPC offers a quick route to market, allowing marketers to place their brand directly in front of potential customers who are actively searching for products or services. When managed effectively, PPC campaigns can be scaled and optimised to generate strong ROI, providing noticeable results that complement long-term SEO and content creation.
Bing and Google, what is the difference?
Both Bing Ads and Google Ads generally work in very similar ways, both work on a Pay per click model generating additional traffic to websites and additional conversions.
Both Google and Bing have individual pros and cons but with a combined approach a savvy marketer can tap into additional revenue and avoid leaving unseen customers on the table.
It is not necessarily a question of one being better than the other, they serve slightly different purposes and reach different customers. With a well-planned strategy, businesses can use both platforms to serve broader objectives, ensuring that the right audiences are being reached at every point in their journey.
Key Stats
Bing Ads vs Google Ads (UK Stats – 2025 Approximate)
| Metric | Google Ads | Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) |
| Avg CPC (Cost Per Click) | £0.77–£1.54 | £1.02 (~30–35% cheaper than Google) |
| Avg CTR (Click-Through Rate) | 1.9% | 2.8% |
| Avg Conversion Rate | 3.75% | 2.94% |
| Avg CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) | £33.85 | £31.87 |
| Estimated ROI/ROAS | £3.08 returned per £1 spent | £2.53 returned per £1 spent |
| UK Search Market Share | 87.9% (Google) | 7.1% (Bing) |
These figures demonstrate that while Google delivers wide scale, Bing can offer efficiency, especially when costs per click and cost per conversion are taken into consideration. Depending on your business objectives and budget, the case for integrating Bing into your paid strategy is a strong one.
Why people choose Google Ads
Google dominates the search space with over 90% market share, delivering strong reach, AI and machine learning to automatically optimise campaigns for best results.
Ads can be run across the entire Google network, including the Display Network, YouTube, Shopping, Gmail, and Search, ensuring that you are able to target customers no matter where they are. The platform is especially beneficial for consumer-focused businesses looking to scale quickly and achieve huge awareness.
Why people choose Bing Ads
Bing Ads, whilst delivering to a smaller audience, are generally much cheaper than Google Ads with less competition. These audiences tend to be older, have higher disposable income, and are more likely to convert, especially in the B2B space.
One often overlooked advantage is Bing’s integration with the full Microsoft network. Ads placed through Bing may appear across Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and within Windows search. This helps to put your brand in front of users who may not engage with Google at all.
By adding both platforms together, you can diversify your spend and have additional room to manoeuvre depending on changes in the marketing space. This flexibility can be invaluable during seasonal changes, algorithm updates, or shifts in customers behaviour.
Targeting Bing Ads vs Google Ads
Comparing both Bing ads vs Google ads, they can target in very similar ways using geo-location data, keyword targeting and audience insights. This allows a similar approach when utilising both advertising platforms.
Bing also allows customers to tap into LinkedIn audience data to better understand industries, companies, and job function, ideal for B2B search advertising. This unique feature offers an edge when targeting professionals, decision makers, and niche industries.
Google includes machine learning to assist with performance and scale. Google’s audience segmentation capabilities allow advertisers to use in market audiences, detailed demographics, and custom intent segments. For larger brands requiring high levels of automation and personalisation, this can key.
Whilst not all campaigns are available, if matched, Bing Ads also allow new customers to transfer Google campaigns straight into Bing, allowing for a quick transition to the new platform. This feature simplifies cross platform setup and allows for a consistent strategy without duplicating excessive amounts of work.
Why a dual-platform strategy matters
The world of marketing is becoming more competitive day by day and relying on a single PPC advertising platform can limit the growth of your business. Taking advantage of both Google and Bing campaigns, marketers can increase their brand awareness, engage with additional user demographics, and build a PPC strategy that can be resilient to market changes.
Search behaviour varies between individuals and platforms. Some users default to Bing simply due to it being immediately available on their device, while others actively seek alternatives to Google. Ignoring this segment not only misses opportunities but could allow competitors to dominate uncontested spaces.
Ad fatigue and bidding wars, especially at peak times of year are a common issue on Google’s network, especially in the more saturated markets. A multi-platform approach allows marketers to strategically spread their spend, reach audiences at a lower cost per click, and unlock segments of traffic that may otherwise go untapped.
If you are looking at targeting a wide-spanning customer base or focusing on small B2B professional audiences, using a multi-platform approach ensures you’re not missing out on key traffic and conversions.
Investigate all opportunities
In today’s landscape, PPC advertising cannot be seen as a one size fits all approach. While Google Ads provides the scale and automation, Bing Ads presents a new opportunity for cost-efficient, high-converting traffic, particularly within older and professional demographics. It’s our job as marketers to investigate all opportunities to see what will convert best for our products or services.
Head over to speak to our PPC Specialists about how utilising a multi-channel approach can aid your PPC marketing.
