Bing Ads in 2026: Are They Worth the Investment?

For years, many marketers have written Bing off as the search engine nobody used.

But that’s getting harder to justify. Microsoft has built its Copilot AI assistant into Bing, Edge and Windows, and the result is a search platform that’s growing again, with advertising revenue up 21% over its last financial year.

In 2026, Bing Ads are one of the more genuinely useful channels in paid search. They’re officially called Microsoft Ads these days, but most people still know them as Bing Ads, so that’s what we’ll call them here.

The clicks tend to cost less than Google, and the audience can be a really good fit for the right kind of business. With far fewer advertisers competing for that space, there’s a real opportunity here for businesses willing to test it.

The part that trips people up is assuming a cheaper click automatically means a better return. It can, but only when your ads reach the right people, and you’re measuring what actually matters to your business.

So the question we want to answer in this guide is: do Bing Ads offer a good return on investment, and how do you make sure they do for you? We run successful Bing Ads campaigns for clients every month, so this is the honest take from our PPC specialists who use this platform every day.

TL;DR: Bing Ads can offer a strong return on investment in 2026, particularly for B2B and higher-value businesses reaching desktop and professional audiences. The clicks cost less than Google, but they only pay off if they convert into quality leads. Treat Bing Ads as a complement to your Google campaigns, give any test around 90 days, and measure success by the quality of the leads it brings in.

How Bing Ads actually work

If you already run Google Ads, this will feel familiar.

Bing Ads work on the same pay-per-click auction model. You bid on keywords, write your ads, and pay when someone clicks. Those ads can show up across Bing, Yahoo, AOL, the Edge browser, DuckDuckGo, and the wider Microsoft Audience Network of partner sites.

Getting started is straightforward because you can import your existing Google campaigns in a few minutes and adjust them from there. The standout feature is LinkedIn targeting. Because Microsoft owns LinkedIn, you can target searchers by job function, industry, and company, which Google can’t do natively.

For B2B advertisers, that’s often reason enough to be there.

Why more UK businesses are testing Bing Ads

Over the last few years, a few things have changed.

Google’s cost-per-click has kept creeping up, which puts pressure on margins for the same keywords businesses have relied on for years.

At the same time, Microsoft has built its Copilot assistant into both search and the ads platform, and Bing now powers search results in a growing number of AI tools that more people are turning to, like DuckDuckGo and ChatGPT’s earlier iterations.

The audience figures have shifted too, though they’re easy to overstate. Bing’s overall UK search share sits at around 4%, but that headline number hides the bit that matters. On desktop, it’s over to 12%, while on mobile, it barely registers at under 1%.

Microsoft’s own figures point the same way, too. Their search and news advertising revenue grew 21% over the 2025 financial year, an increase they credit largely to Copilot and AI features, which brought more people to Bing.

In short, Bing is a growing, desktop-led channel, and it costs less to compete in and gain visibility than it did a few years ago.

How much do Bing Ads cost to run in the UK?

Across most sectors, clicks on Bing Ads tend to come in below Google, often somewhere in the region of 30 to 50% cheaper, though the gap really depends on your industry and how competitive your keywords are. Competitive B2B and finance terms narrow it, while quieter niches widen it.

You don’t need a big budget of thousands to find out where your ads land. A few hundred pounds a month is usually enough to gather useful data, and you can begin with daily budgets of just a few pounds. That low barrier to entry makes it an easy channel to test without committing serious spend.

But the key thing to consider is that a cheaper click only helps you if it converts at a similar rate and brings in leads of a similar quality. Remember, the cost of the click is only one part of the picture.

Bing Ads vs Google Ads

Most businesses aren’t choosing between Google and Bing. The real question is whether to add Bing alongside the Google Ads campaigns you’re already running.

Doing both gives you more coverage, but the platforms differ in ways that make it worth tailoring your approach.

Which has the bigger reach?

Google is the default for the vast majority of UK searches, so it wins comfortably on sheer volume. For most businesses, Bing won’t replace it as your main source of traffic, and it’s worth going in with that expectation rather than assuming it’ll match Google click for click.

Bing’s strength here is incremental reach rather than scale. A share of its users, particularly on desktop, rarely use Google, so the two platforms reach some different people rather than entirely the same audience twice.

Which is cheaper?

Lower competition on Bing usually means lower costs-per-click. Fewer advertisers bidding on the same keywords tends to keep auction prices down, so the same budget often buys more clicks than it would on Google.

Google’s higher costs reflect its higher demand and volume. Whether the cheaper clicks on Bing or the larger audience on Google represents better value depends entirely on how each converts for your specific business, which is something only testing will tell you.

Who are you reaching?

In the UK, Bing’s users are generally older and more likely to be on a desktop, with a higher proportion of established professionals and business decision-makers than its overall market share suggests.

A large share of its users are 45 and over, and many reach it on work devices running Windows and Edge, which is part of why it suits some advertisers, particularly in B2B and higher-value sectors, more than others.

Google’s audience is much broader and far more mobile. It effectively covers every demographic and intent, making it a stronger all-rounder, though that breadth also means less built-in skew towards any one professional group.

How do they compare on mobile?

This is the biggest difference between the two. Google dominates mobile search, while the bulk of Bing’s activity happens on desktop. If your customers tend to research and buy on their phones, Google is clearly the stronger fit.

For desktop-led journeys, the balance shifts. Considered B2B and higher-value purchases are often made at a desk rather than on a phone, and that’s where a larger share of Bing’s audience sits.

Which has better targeting?

Google is the more mature platform for automation and smart bidding, with a longer track record and more developed machine learning behind its campaign tools. For advertisers who lean on hands-off automation, that’s a clear point in its favour.

Bing’s distinguishing feature is LinkedIn targeting, which Google can’t match natively. Because Microsoft owns LinkedIn, you can target by job title, industry, and company, which Google has no direct equivalent for. Each platform leads in a different area rather than one being broadly ahead.

How is AI changing each platform?

Both platforms are building AI into search rather than treating it as an add-on. Microsoft uses Copilot across Bing, while Google has Gemini and its AI Overviews/AI Mode shaping how results appear, so neither has a clear lead here.

For advertisers, the practical point is that both channels are changing at once. How and where your ads appear in these AI-assisted experiences is still settling on each platform, so both are worth watching as they develop.

Quick comparison between Bing Ads and Google Ads

Does a cheaper click actually mean a better return?

This is really the heart of it. Your return isn’t determined by the cost-per-click; it’s decided by everything that happens after it, like how many people click, how many of those go on to convert, how good those leads are, and what they’re ultimately worth to your business.

Here’s a quick example that shows why the click price on its own can mislead you. Say a Google click costs £4 and turns into an enquiry 5% of the time. That works out at £80 per enquiry.

Now, say a Bing click costs £2, half the price, but converts at 2.5% because the audience is a slightly weaker match for what you’re selling. That’s also £80 per enquiry, so the cheaper click hasn’t actually saved you anything.

Turn that around, though, with a desktop B2B audience that converts just as well or better, and that same £2 click can bring in enquiries at half the cost.

That’s why we don’t judge a channel like Bing solely on cost-per-click. We look at cost per qualified lead, cost per sale, and the value of the pipeline it generates, because those are the numbers that tell you whether it’s actually making money.

Lean on the click price alone, and you can talk yourself into the wrong decision in either direction.

Which businesses see the best return on Bing Ads?

The businesses that see the best return on Bing Ads are B2B and higher-value service providers whose customers spend their working day at a desktop.

Sectors like finance, healthcare, IT, and manufacturing tend to do particularly well, as do advertisers who’ve already pushed Google as far as it’ll go and want more efficient volume from somewhere else.

The other big decider is the gap between desktop and mobile. Bing’s audience is largely concentrated on desktop, so the businesses that match that behaviour are the ones that profit from it the most.

Bing isn’t a particularly good fit for your business if your audience is younger and primarily mobile-based, when you’re selling something that relies on visual or impulse buying, or when there just isn’t much search demand for what you do on Bing to begin with.

How to test Bing Ads properly

The best way to settle the question for your own business is to run a proper test and give it enough time to tell you something real.

Too many brands only give 30 days for testing, but Bing’s lower volume means you might only gather a handful of conversions in those first few weeks, and automated bidding needs time to settle before it performs at its best.

Most accounts need closer to 90 days to produce a verdict you can trust, though the right window depends on your budget, how many conversions you’re getting and how long your sales cycle runs.

We find it helps to think about it in three stages rather than as one block of spend.

Step 1: Account Setup

Before you spend anything, you need to lay the right foundations for your tracking, ad copy, and targeting.

• Set up conversion tracking first: Microsoft has a free tracking tool called UET – install this on your website before you launch your ads. It’s what tells you whether your clicks are turning into leads or sales. Without it, you’ll have no way of knowing if the campaign is actually working.
• Import your Google campaigns as a starting point: Bing’s auction works differently from Google’s, so don’t assume everything will behave the same way. Review your bids and keyword match types rather than copying everything across blindly.
• Focus your early budget on searches where people are close to a decision: Target people searching for your brand, comparing you to competitors, or using phrases that suggest they’re ready to buy. Don’t try to capture everyone at once.
• Separate out your mobile traffic: Bing has far fewer mobile users than Google, and the quality tends to be lower, too. Mixing it in with your desktop results will make everything harder to read, so exclude it or manage it separately from the start.

At this stage, you’re not aiming to draw any meaningful conclusions. You’re just getting things up and running and making sure there are no major issues.

Step 2: Optimise & Test

Now you can start refining your ads and targeting based on what the data is telling you.

• Check your search term report every week: This shows you the actual words and phrases people typed before clicking your ad. Some will be irrelevant – add those as negative keywords so you stop paying for them. Others might be surprisingly good and worth building a dedicated ad around.
• Add negative keywords on an ongoing basis: New irrelevant searches will appear as the campaign grows, so treat this as a continuous task rather than something you do once and forget.
• Adjust your bids based on what’s converting: If certain keywords or audience segments are consistently bringing in leads, put more budget behind them. If others are spending without results, lower the budget or pause them.
• Use Bing’s LinkedIn integration if you’re targeting businesses: You can adjust how much you bid based on a user’s job title, industry, or company size – something Google doesn’t offer. It’s worth using if your customers fit a particular professional profile.
• Run at least two versions of each ad: Change the headline, the offer, or the call to action and see which performs better. Let the data decide rather than going on what you feel would work.
• Wait at least two to three weeks before judging any change you make: Bids, budgets, and match type adjustments all need time to settle before you can see their true effect. So don’t expect adjustments to yield results instantly.
• Scale up what’s working: If you started cautiously in Step 1, this is the right moment to increase budget on the campaigns and keywords that are delivering real results.

If you’ve followed this process, this is usually the stage where a campaign will start finding its feet. The key is not to make too many knee-jerk changes based on short-term data and not to give up too early.

Step 3: Reviewing the Data

With enough data behind you and enough time for early leads to have progressed or closed, you can make a proper judgment on whether Bing is working for you.

Always judge performance on lead quality and pipeline value. Click numbers and conversion counts are useful, but they don’t tell you the true impact on your growth. A campaign that drove ten clicks and closed two deals is better than one that drove a hundred clicks and closed none.

By this point, you’ll have a genuine answer on whether Bing is profitable for your business.

What Copilot and AI search mean for Bing Ads

Looking ahead, Bing’s role in AI search is the most interesting thing about the channel right now. Because Bing powers the search behind Copilot and several other AI assistants, Bing Ads are starting to influence how visible you are within AI-assisted searches, well beyond the traditional results page.

It’s worth being clear here, because a lot of articles get carried away with this. Your ads don’t simply appear inside a chatbot’s answer the way they sit above normal search results.

What’s changing is that more of the journeys people take to find products and services now run through AI tools that lean on Bing, and Microsoft is steadily weaving advertising into those journeys. For advertisers, that’s a good reason to get familiar with the channel now, while it’s still early.

So, are Bing Ads worth it in 2026?

For the right business, yes. Bing Ads can deliver a strong return in 2026, especially when you run them alongside Google to really expand your audience reach.

The businesses that do best tend to be in B2B or higher-value sectors like finance, IT services, healthcare, and professional services, where the buying journey happens at a desk rather than on a phone.

To decide whether Bing Ads works for your business, you need to focus on the cost per qualified lead and pipeline value generated rather than just cost-per-click. With clear conversion tracking and a proper 90-day test, you can draw accurate conclusions on whether Bing Ads is creating real opportunities that will actually drive growth.

So, if your customers are primarily professionals who are searching on desktop devices, Bing Ads are definitely worth a try. If your customers are typically younger and mobile-first, sticking with just Google is probably the better option.

Want our PPC Specialists to help set up and measure whether Bing Ads can drive meaningful growth for your business? Get in touch today.

FAQs on Bing Ads in 2026

Are Bing Ads cheaper than Google Ads in the UK?

Yes, on average, Bing Ads clicks are around 30 – 50% cheaper than on Google, though that varies by sector.

Competitive areas like finance and legal see smaller differences, while quieter niches can see much bigger savings. The reason is that fewer advertisers are bidding on Bing, which means less auction competition and lower click prices.

That said, a cheaper click only saves you money if it converts into a genuine enquiry or sale. If the audience isn’t the right fit, you could end up paying the same per lead despite the lower click cost. The best way to compare the two platforms is to focus on cost per qualified lead or cost per sale, rather than just cost-per-click.

How much should I budget to test Bing Ads?

You don’t need a massive budget to test on Bing Ads.  A few hundred pounds a month is typically enough to gather useful data, and you can begin with daily budgets as low as £10.

That low barrier to entry is one of Bing’s advantages over Google, where the same keywords often cost significantly more to test.

Time matters more than spend, though. Because Bing has lower search volume, most accounts need around 90 days to accumulate enough conversions for a reliable picture.

A common mistake is judging after just 30 days, when you may only have a handful of results and the automated bidding hasn’t had time to optimise.

Are Bing Ads good for B2B businesses?

B2B is one of the strongest use cases for Bing Ads.

The platform’s audience skews towards desktop users, older professionals, and business decision-makers, and a large proportion of its traffic comes from Windows users using Microsoft Edge at work. That means you’re naturally reaching people during their working day, which is ideal for B2B campaigns.

The standout feature for B2B audiences is LinkedIn targeting. Because Microsoft owns LinkedIn, you can adjust bids based on a searcher’s job title, industry, and company size, something Google has no native equivalent for.

Sectors like IT services, manufacturing, financial services, and professional services tend to see particularly strong results, especially where the sales cycle involves research and committee-level sign-off.

Can I run Bing Ads and Google Ads at the same time?

Yes, and that’s what most of our Bing Ads clients are doing.

The two platforms aren’t competing for the same space. For most brands, Google is their primary paid search channel, and Bing sits alongside it to pick up the desktop and professional audiences that Google Ads can’t target as easily.

Bing even has a built-in import tool that pulls your Google campaigns across in minutes, so you don’t have to build everything from scratch.

The important thing is not to just copy everything across and leave it. Bing’s auction behaves differently from Google’s, so reviewing your bids and adjusting match types and search terms accordingly as Bing gathers more data is definitely beneficial.