Test Microsoft Ads if you have room for more customers and your buyers work in Microsoft 365. Across 10 businesses I run on both platforms, the median paid 38% less per click and 14% less per lead on Microsoft, but only 5 of the 10 got cheaper leads. Skip it if Google already fills your calendar.
- Budget: move 15–20% of your Google budget across for 30 days. The median account I run spends $297 a month on Microsoft.
- Judge it on: cost per lead and lead quality, never cost per click.
- Watch for: keyword leakage. Microsoft matches more loosely than Google, so match types and negative keywords need to be tighter.
- Canada: no Canadian Microsoft Ads cost benchmark exists (checked Oct 10, 2026).
- Bytown: connects Microsoft Ads beside Google, copies your winning campaigns once, and every change waits for your yes.
Published by Bytown: whether Microsoft Ads (the platform formerly called Bing Ads) is worth a small business's money, what it costs, who should run it, and the guides to read next, checked October 18, 2026.
Bytown runs Microsoft Ads for its customers, and it's my company, so weigh my view with that in mind. Bytown is not affiliated with Microsoft or Google.
Here's the short answer. In the 10 businesses I run on both platforms, the median business paid 38% less per click on Microsoft than on Google, and 14% less per lead. Only 5 of the 10 got cheaper leads, though, so it's a test, not a sure thing.
Is Microsoft Ads worth it for a small business?
Yes, if Google already brings you leads and you could handle more. No, if your calendar is full.
"It's often a forgotten channel." Over the years I've run it for governments, fintech, local businesses, SaaS, medical practices, travel companies, nonprofits, and architecture and engineering firms. The pattern is the same each time: fewer advertisers bidding, so cheaper clicks, and a smaller crowd searching, so fewer of them.
Here's the deal:
A cheaper click only matters if it turns into a lead at a sensible price. On Microsoft, the median business I run converted clicks 38% less often than on Google, which is why the lead-price gap is so much smaller than the click-price gap.
So I never judge it on cost per click (CPC), what you pay when someone clicks. I judge it on cost per lead (CPL), what you pay for each enquiry, and on whether those enquiries become customers. In my words: "cost per lead and lead quality."
The business that should skip it is easy to spot. "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."
Everyone else with a working Google account should move a slice of budget across and find out. The rest of this page is the how.
The Microsoft Ads guides, in the order to read them
Look:
This is the hub. Each guide below answers 1 question; read them in this order and you'll have decided, connected, copied and judged within 30 days.
| Guide | The question it answers | Read it when |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Ads vs Google Ads | Is Microsoft cheaper than Google, per click and per lead, in the same business? | Before you decide |
| Microsoft Ads benchmarks | What did 10 US businesses pay per click and per lead, by industry? | Before you set a budget |
| How to connect Microsoft Ads | How do I plug my Microsoft Advertising account into Bytown in 4 steps? | Day 1 |
| Import Google Ads to Microsoft Ads | How do I copy my winning Google campaigns without copying the mistakes? | Day 1, after connecting |
| What Microsoft Ads cost | What's a normal cost per click and per lead in my industry, and in Canada? | Day 30, when you judge the test |
| Microsoft Ads agency or do it yourself | What do agencies charge to run it, and when is one worth it? | If you'd rather not run it yourself |
| Microsoft Ads for law firms | Why legal clicks cost less on Microsoft, and which campaign to import first | If you're a law firm |
Guides that aren't linked yet are on their way. This page updates as each one goes live.
What Microsoft Ads costs
Less per click than Google, and a little less per lead: 14% less for the median business I run, with only 5 of 10 businesses paying less. That's my data; the published tables say less than they appear to.
The biggest benchmark tables blend Google with Microsoft. LocaliQ's 2026 search benchmarks, built with WordStream, come from campaigns "across Google Ads and Microsoft Ads", so they describe search in general, not Microsoft.
The Microsoft-only ranges you'll find are agency estimates. Stackmatix publishes cost-per-click bands by industry without saying how many accounts, which country or which months sit behind them.
| Source | Industry | Cost per click | Cost per lead | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Canada | All industries | No Canadian source exists (checked Oct 10, 2026) | None published | Nothing published |
All figures are US dollars. My 10 businesses are 2 dental practices, 2 engineering firms, a B2B SaaS company, a fintech, an accountant, an insurance office, a landscaper and a car dealer.
Full disclosure:
Weighted by spend instead of by business, my numbers flip. Microsoft cost about twice as much per lead, mostly because 1 car dealer buys Google leads very cheaply; without it, Microsoft still cost about 10% more per lead and about 41% less per click. I report the median business because it's what a typical owner can expect.
Microsoft publishes its own results too, and they're Microsoft's claims, not mine. Its February 2025 product update says advertisers who upgraded to Performance Max got "increased conversions (an average 24% increase at a similar CPA or ROAS)", where CPA is cost per action and ROAS is return on ad spend. Its Grammarly case study (September 2025) reports "Lowered CPA by 23% YoY", year over year. Both come from accounts Microsoft chose to write about.
Make no mistake:
No Canadian Microsoft Advertising cost benchmark exists in any published 2025–2026 source. If you advertise in Canada, every Microsoft cost figure you've read was measured somewhere else, and your own 30-day test is the only Canadian number you'll get.
What businesses like yours spend on Microsoft Ads
Less than you'd think. The median account I run spends $297 a month on Microsoft, and the budget is moved from Google rather than added on top.
On those 10 accounts, the local and professional businesses, from the accountant to the 2 dental practices, average between about $160 and $330 a month. The B2B SaaS company averages about $400 and the car dealer about $530. The fintech is the outlier at about $1,270 a month.
The share I move is small to start. "Typically about 15% to 20%" of the Google budget, for 30 days, then more if cost per lead holds.
Here's where it gets interesting:
For some buyers, Microsoft stops being a side channel. "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."
That's the tell. If your customers run Teams, Outlook and Edge all day, Bing is their default search box, and your Microsoft budget can grow well past a test.
Who should test Microsoft Ads, and who should skip it?
Test it if your buyers live in Microsoft 365 or you sell to other businesses. 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."
Microsoft also has 1 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 matters when you sell to businesses.
It isn't only for B2B. 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?
If Google isn't bringing leads yet, don't add Microsoft. Microsoft copies what works on Google, so copying a broken account doubles the problem. Fix Google first with why Google Ads stops bringing leads, then come back.
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."
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 (the searches you block your ads from), and a weekly look at the search terms report.
So, what's the catch?
The scale is smaller. "Yes, it is smaller than Google," so there are fewer searches to buy, and Microsoft is an addition to Google, never a replacement.
There's no secret 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."
How Bytown runs Microsoft Ads
You connect your Microsoft Advertising account in Bytown in 4 steps, and it sits beside Google, Meta, LinkedIn and ChatGPT Ads in the same dashboards and the 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. On my own accounts, "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." Within the first week, there were more leads coming from Microsoft.
The copy happens once, on request, and the new campaigns start paused. Bytown never syncs Google to Microsoft daily, because "the sync is often dangerous": the 2 platforms use different bidding and tracking parameters, and a daily sync "just pulls the budgets from Google. Microsoft can completely overspend."
Let's be honest:
Copying saves time; it doesn't buy cheaper leads. The 6 businesses that copied their Google campaigns through Bytown paid $59 a lead on Microsoft, against $57 across all 10. The copy gets you a proven campaign on day 1 in minutes, and then Microsoft has to earn its budget like any other channel.
On those copied accounts, 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." Copying needs Google Ads and Microsoft Ads connected to the same business, so it runs on the Max plan.
Is Microsoft Ads worth testing for you?
Answer 3 questions and your answer lights up in the table.
Whatever the table says, the keep-or-kill rule at day 30 is the same: cheaper leads that close, keep it and give it more; otherwise you spent a capped slice of 1 month finding out.
Where Bytown is today (Oct 18, 2026)
Bytown runs Google (with YouTube), Meta, LinkedIn, Microsoft and ChatGPT Ads, with dashboards, chat and approval cards on each.
Simply put:
Pro is US$199 a month for 1 business and 1 ad account on 1 platform, and that platform can be Microsoft Ads. Max is US$449 a month for every platform and unlimited ad accounts, 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.
Want people involved? Advisors adds a dedicated expert for US$199 a month on top of Pro or Max, and Done for you starts at US$799 a month, Microsoft included.
FAQ
Is Microsoft Ads worth it for a small business?
Yes, if Google already brings you leads and you have room for more customers. In 10 businesses I run on both platforms, the median paid 38% less per click and 14% less per lead on Microsoft, but only 5 of the 10 got cheaper leads. Skip it if Google already fills your calendar.
How much should a small business spend on Microsoft Ads?
Move 15–20% of your Google budget across for 30 days rather than adding new money. The median account I run spends $297 a month on Microsoft; the local and professional businesses average about $160–330 and the fintech about $1,270. Grow it only if cost per lead holds against Google.
Is Bing Ads cheaper than Google Ads?
Per click, usually: 8 of my 10 businesses paid less on Microsoft, the median 38% less. Per lead it's closer to a coin toss, because Microsoft clicks converted 38% less often for the median business, so only 5 of the 10 paid less per lead. Judge it on cost per lead, never cost per click.
Who searches on Bing?
People who spend the working day in Microsoft's tools. Bing is the default search in Edge, Windows and Microsoft 365, so B2B and enterprise buyers show up there in numbers. On some of my B2B accounts, Microsoft traffic is about 50/50 with Google when buyers run Microsoft 365 rather than Google Workspace.
Should I import my Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Ads?
Yes, once. Copy the campaigns that already bring leads, then check tracking templates, bid strategy, budgets, match types and negative keywords by hand. Never sync them daily, because the platforms bid and track differently and a daily import can push Google's budgets onto Microsoft unseen, which is why Bytown copies once, on request, created paused.
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 big 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 figure.
Do I need an agency to run Microsoft Ads?
No. The work is Google's discipline applied harder: tight match types, a long negative keyword list and a weekly look at the search terms report. Bytown stages those changes for your approval, Advisors or Done for you add a person if you want one, and an agency makes sense when nobody has an hour a week for it.
Can Bytown copy my Google campaigns to Microsoft Ads?
Yes. Ask in the chat, and Bytown stages a paused copy of your best Google campaign on an approval card, usually in a few minutes. It needs Google Ads and Microsoft Ads connected to the same business, so it runs on the Max plan, and the copy is one-time, so ask again whenever you want a fresh one.
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 Advertising blog, "New Performance Max tools and other product updates for February", February 4, 2025: about.ads.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Advertising, Grammarly case study, September 4, 2025: about.ads.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn, "LinkedIn profile targeting": learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Advertising on YouTube, "How to benchmark your performance", December 17, 2025: 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. Budget bands and the copy story: my own accounts, October 2026. Bytown prices: bytown.co/pricing, checked October 10, 2026.
Test Microsoft Ads beside Google in 30 days
Connect Microsoft Ads in 4 steps, copy your winning Google campaigns once, and compare cost per lead side by side. Every change waits 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.