Keep Google Ads and test Microsoft beside it. Across 10 businesses on both, the median paid 38% less per click and 14% less per lead on Microsoft, but only 5 got cheaper leads. Skip it if Google fills your calendar.
- Test budget: move 15–20% of your Google budget to Microsoft for 30 days.
- Judge it on: cost per lead and lead quality, not cost per click (CPC).
- Import: copy your winning Google campaigns once. Never sync them daily.
- Canada: no Canadian Microsoft Ads cost benchmark exists (checked Oct 10, 2026).
- Bytown: runs both platforms, and every change waits for your yes.
Published by Bytown: how Microsoft Ads (the platform formerly called Bing Ads) compares with Google Ads for a small business, with the published figures and my own, checked October 10, 2026.
Bytown runs both platforms for its customers, and it's my company, so weigh my view with that in mind. Bytown is not affiliated with Microsoft or Google.
My own figures come from the 10 businesses I run on both platforms through Bytown, March to September 2026. I compared each one's Microsoft results with its own Google results over the same months.
Per click, 8 of the 10 paid less on Microsoft, and the median business paid 38% less. Per lead, only 5 of the 10 paid less, and the median business paid 14% less.
They're 2 dental practices, 2 engineering firms, a B2B SaaS company, a fintech, an accountant, an insurance office, a landscaper and a car dealer. The median one spent $297 a month on Microsoft.
Is Bing Ads cheaper than Google Ads?
Per click, usually yes. Cost per click (CPC) is typically lower on Microsoft, and Stackmatix puts that down to a smaller pool of advertisers bidding in each auction.
Per lead, it's closer to a coin toss. The best of my 10 businesses paid 65% less per lead on Microsoft; the worst paid 3.5 times as much.
The reason is conversion rate. Microsoft clicks turned into leads less often: the median business's Microsoft clicks converted 38% less often than its Google clicks.
Copying campaigns doesn't change that on its own. The 6 businesses that copied their Google campaigns through Bytown paid $59 a lead on Microsoft, against $57 across all 10.
Here's the uncomfortable part:
A cheap click on the wrong search is still wasted money. That's why I never judge Microsoft on cost per click. I judge it on cost per lead (CPL), what you pay for each enquiry, and on whether those leads turn into customers.
My rule: copy the winners once, cap the budget, judge it in 30 days
Over the years I've run Microsoft Ads for governments, fintech, local businesses, SaaS, medical, travel, nonprofits, architecture and engineering firms. "It's often a forgotten channel." The test I use is the same every time.
- Copy the Google campaigns that already bring leads. Proven keywords and landing pages, not experiments.
- Move 15–20% of the Google budget across. Reallocate it; don't add new money. "Typically about 15% to 20%" is what I move.
- Run it for 30 days before you decide anything.
- Judge it on cost per lead and lead quality. In my words: "cost per lead and lead quality. often that happens because cost of traffic (CPC) is cheaper".
Cheaper leads that close? Keep it and give it more. If not, you spent a capped slice of a month finding out.
Why I never sync Google to Microsoft daily
Microsoft's import tool can repeat on a schedule. Its developer guide lists the options, including "Daily: Import once per day at the time you specify."
That's the setting I tell people to leave alone. "The sync is often dangerous because both Microsoft and Google have slightly different parameters, different bidding, and, for example, different tracking parameters, and it is not a robust setup."
"When a human who has not done it before does it, people often make mistakes syncing it every single day, and then it just pulls the budgets from Google. Microsoft can completely overspend."
The import itself can bite too. One advertiser posted this on Microsoft's own Q&A forum:
"we accidentally started an import from Google Ads without making custom changes and the whole account with over 100 campaigns was overwritten."
An advertiser on Microsoft Q&A, January 24, 2025: learn.microsoft.com
Here's what it means.
Copy once, then treat Microsoft as its own account. Check the tracking templates, bid strategy, budgets, match types and negative keywords by hand after the copy; none should simply mirror Google.
What the published numbers say about Microsoft Ads costs
Less than most guides imply. The biggest tables blend Google with Microsoft, and the Microsoft-only ranges are agency estimates with no sample.
LocaliQ's 2026 search benchmarks, built with WordStream, come from "thousands of our customers' advertising campaigns across Google Ads and Microsoft Ads". Useful for search in general, useless for comparing the 2 platforms.
Stackmatix publishes Microsoft-only cost-per-click ranges, but it doesn't say how many accounts, which country or which months.
| Source | Industry | Cost per click | Cost per lead | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LocaliQ / WordStream 2026 | All industries | $5.42 | $66.69 | Google + Microsoft blended |
| LocaliQ / WordStream 2026 | Attorneys and legal | $9.87 | $131.63 | Google + Microsoft blended |
| LocaliQ / WordStream 2026 | Finance and insurance | $3.39 | $74.44 | Google + Microsoft blended |
| LocaliQ / WordStream 2026 | Automotive, for sale | $2.27 | $44.26 | Google + Microsoft blended |
| Stackmatix | B2B software | $3–7 | Not published | Microsoft only; agency estimate, no sample |
| Stackmatix | Financial services | $6–14 | Not published | Microsoft only; agency estimate, no sample |
| Stackmatix | Legal | $15–22 | Not published | Microsoft only; agency estimate, no sample |
| Stackmatix | E-commerce | $1–2.50 | Not published | Microsoft only; agency estimate, no sample |
| Bytown accounts, Mar–Sep 2026 | 8 industries, Microsoft only | $2.08 (median account) | $52 (median account) | 10 US accounts; Microsoft only |
| Bytown accounts, Mar–Sep 2026 | Same 10 businesses on both | 38% below Google (median business; 8 of 10 lower) | 14% below Google (median business; 5 of 10 lower) | Each business's Microsoft against its own Google, same months |
| Canada | All industries | No Canadian source exists (checked Oct 10, 2026) | None published | Nothing published |
LocaliQ's page (updated June 1, 2026) doesn't state the country or months behind its data. All figures are US dollars.
Weighted by spend instead of by business, my numbers flip. Microsoft cost about twice as much per lead, mostly because the car dealer buys Google leads very cheaply; without it, Microsoft still cost about 10% more per lead. That's why I read the median business: it's what a typical owner can expect.
Here's the kicker:
No Canadian Microsoft Advertising CPC or cost-per-lead benchmark exists in any published 2025–2026 source. If you advertise in Canada, every Microsoft cost figure you've read was measured somewhere else.
Who should test Microsoft Ads, and who should skip it?
Test it if your buyers work inside Microsoft's tools all day. Skip it if Google already gives you all the work you can handle.
"For some companies that, for example, target enterprise or whose clients are on Microsoft 365 infrastructure (which is Teams and Bing), it can be one of the best channels, and it often gets missed."
For those buyers, Microsoft can carry far more than a test-sized share of the search traffic. "If it's Copilot or if it's just the default Bing search, the traffic from Microsoft, in some instances, is about 50/50 with Google, especially if the buyer is someone who is heavily on the Microsoft infrastructure and not G Suite."
Microsoft also has one targeting option Google can't match. LinkedIn profile targeting lets a Search campaign adjust bids by a searcher's company, industry and job function, which is useful when you sell to businesses.
It isn't only for B2B or big budgets: the businesses I run on Microsoft include a landscaper, an accountant, 2 dental practices and a car dealer. "Microsoft is a great additional channel for a 5-person business, even a 1-person business or a 20-person business."
Bottom line?
I tell one kind of business to skip it: the one whose calendar is full. "Microsoft Ads is not worth the extra spend if businesses who use Bytown use Google fine and have their calendar full, because they only spend a small amount on ads."
If there's room for more work, test it. "It's always worth reallocating some budget from Google to Microsoft just to test, especially if there are buyers who are on Microsoft 365 infrastructure."
Where Microsoft Ads is weaker than Google
Matching. "The keyword matching and targeting is not as good, so it needs to be a little bit tighter."
In practice, your keywords get matched to searches that are only loosely related. "Microsoft is famous for having leakage for keyword matching": money dripping out on searches from people who were never going to buy.
The fix is Google's discipline, applied harder: tighter match types, a longer negative keyword list, and a regular look at the search terms report.
Make no mistake:
Microsoft is an addition to Google, never a replacement. "Yes, it is smaller than Google," so there are fewer searches to buy.
There's no magic setting on either platform. "There isn't a specific feature. What really works is simply matching high-buying-intent keywords with landing pages that then convert, same as on Google."
On the accounts I copied across through Bytown, leakage didn't show up. "In Bytown, there wasn't a leak within the search terms because Bytown has a skill and knows how to optimize Microsoft."
Running Google and Microsoft side by side in Bytown
You connect your Microsoft Advertising account in Bytown, and it sits next to Google, Meta, LinkedIn and ChatGPT Ads. Same dashboards, same chat.
Ask in plain words, and any change Bytown proposes arrives as an approval card: budget, campaign status, bids or negative keywords, each with its before and after. Nothing applies until you confirm.
Want to know the best part?
One request copies your Google winners. "Bytown has understood all the campaigns from Google and then just built them to Microsoft in one click and one ask. It was done in 2 or 3 minutes."
New Microsoft Search campaigns are created paused, so nothing spends until you switch them on. The copy happens once, on request: Bytown never syncs Google to Microsoft daily, so a Google budget change never lands on Microsoft unseen.
The answers below are illustrative, on a demo account.
Microsoft Ads in Copilot and MCP
Microsoft now has its own MCP server for Microsoft Advertising, and it only reads. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets an AI assistant use outside tools.
Microsoft's documentation is blunt about it: "The tools never modify account data. They only return information from Microsoft Advertising." Microsoft made the server available through open flight on August 31, 2026.
It connects to Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot in VS Code, ChatGPT and Claude. Before any of them can connect, Microsoft's setup guide has you install a command-line tool and create your own app registration with its own sign-in settings.
Think about it:
For a 5-person business, that's an IT project for a tool that can report but can't pause a campaign. Fine for answers, not for getting work done.
Bytown's connector covers Microsoft Ads the same way it covers Google, Meta, LinkedIn and ChatGPT Ads. You add https://ads.bytown.co/mcp to your assistant, sign in to Bytown, and every change it proposes is staged until you confirm.
Setup is in the Claude guide. The official ads MCP servers comparison covers what each platform's own server can change.
Should you test Microsoft Ads?
It depends on whether Google already works for you. Answer 3 questions and the match lights up.
If Google isn't working yet, start with why Google Ads stops bringing leads before you add a second channel.
Where Bytown is today (Oct 17, 2026)
Bytown runs Google (with YouTube), Meta, LinkedIn, Microsoft and ChatGPT Ads, with dashboards, chat and approval cards on each.
Pro is US$199 a month for 1 business and 1 ad account on 1 platform, with standard MCP. Max is US$449 a month for every platform and unlimited ad accounts, with advanced MCP, which is what running Google and Microsoft together needs.
New customers get 30% off the first month: $139 for Pro, $314 for Max. Prices are from bytown.co/pricing on October 10, 2026.
FAQ
Is Bing Ads cheaper than Google Ads?
Per click, usually: in 10 businesses running both through Bytown, 8 paid less on Microsoft and the median paid 38% less. Per lead, only 5 of the 10 paid less, and the median paid 14% less, because Microsoft clicks convert less often. Run your own 30-day test before you move more budget.
Is Microsoft Ads worth it for a small business?
Yes, if you have room for more customers. I run it for local businesses with budgets of $300–400 a month as well as larger B2B accounts. Skip it if Google already fills your calendar. Otherwise move 15–20% of your Google budget across for 30 days and compare cost per lead.
How much does Microsoft Ads cost in Canada?
Nobody publishes it. No Canadian Microsoft Advertising cost-per-click or cost-per-lead benchmark exists in any 2025–2026 source I could find, checked October 10, 2026. The best-known tables blend Google with Microsoft or don't state a country, so a capped 30-day test on your own account is the only reliable Canadian number.
Can I import my Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Ads?
Yes. Microsoft's Google Import copies campaigns, keywords and ads, and Bytown can copy your best Google campaigns on request in a few minutes, created paused. Copy once, then check tracking templates, bid strategy, budgets, match types and negative keywords by hand, because the 2 platforms don't behave the same.
Should I sync Google Ads and Microsoft Ads daily?
No. A daily import keeps pushing Google's budgets and settings onto Microsoft, where bidding and tracking parameters work differently, and an unreviewed budget change can make Microsoft overspend. Copy your winning campaigns once, then manage Microsoft as its own account with its own match types and negative keywords.
What budget should I use to test Microsoft Ads?
Move 15–20% of your current Google budget to Microsoft rather than adding new money, and run it for 30 days. Judge it on cost per lead and lead quality, not cost per click. If your buyers live on Microsoft 365, Microsoft can earn a bigger share once it proves itself.
Who searches on Bing?
People who spend their working day in Microsoft's tools, such as Microsoft 365 and Teams, where Bing is the default search. That makes it strong for B2B and enterprise. On some of my B2B accounts, Microsoft traffic is about 50/50 with Google when buyers work on Microsoft 365, not Google Workspace.
Does Microsoft Ads work with Copilot?
Microsoft's own MCP server connects Microsoft Advertising to Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude, but it only reads data and needs your own app registration. Bytown's connector works in those assistants too and can stage changes to budgets, bids, status and negative keywords for your approval.
Sources
- LocaliQ, "Search Advertising Benchmarks" (with WordStream), updated June 1, 2026: localiq.com
- Stackmatix, "Microsoft Ads vs Google Ads", September 6, 2026: stackmatix.com
- Microsoft Learn, "Google Ads Import" (import schedule options): learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Q&A, "How can I undo an import from Google Ads", January 24, 2025: learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn, "LinkedIn profile targeting": learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn, "MCP Entity Tools" (read-only): learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn, "MCP Server Setup Guide" (supported clients and app registration): learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Advertising blog, August 2026 product roundup (open flight): about.ads.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Advertising on YouTube, "Boost Your Reach with Google Import on Microsoft Advertising", October 24, 2024: youtube.com
- Canada: no Canadian Microsoft Advertising cost benchmark found in published 2025–2026 sources, October 10, 2026.
- Bytown account data: 10 US businesses running Microsoft Ads and Google Ads, March–September 2026, pulled from the connected ad accounts through Bytown on October 17, 2026. Each business's Microsoft figures are compared with its own Google figures over the months both ran; the page reports the median business. Bytown prices: bytown.co/pricing, checked October 10, 2026.
Run Google and Microsoft Ads side by side
Bytown copies your winning Google campaigns to Microsoft once, created paused, and stages every change for your yes. Flat monthly price, no % of your ad spend, cancel anytime, and you keep your ad accounts.
Try Bytown Or compare plans on the pricing page.