Microsoft Ads: the overlooked ad network for B2B

When a B2B company talks about search advertising, it means Google Ads. Microsoft’s network, long called Bing Ads, often gets left out: too small, the thinking goes, to be worth the effort. That reasoning misses two things. A meaningful share of searches made on desktop computers goes through the engines that show its ads, and it can bid according to the LinkedIn profile of the person searching. This article sets out what Microsoft Ads brings a B2B company, and how to try it without rebuilding your campaigns; it complements our online advertising guides.

Why does Microsoft Ads matter in B2B?

Across all devices, Google dominates search in France. But the share of other engines changes a lot with the screen: on a computer, the one people work on, Bing and Yahoo weigh far more than on a phone.

Across all devices, the same source gives Bing only 5.47% and Yahoo 2.75%. The gap is what makes the network interesting for B2B: if your buyers look for a supplier or a piece of software from their workstation, part of those searches escapes you as long as you are only on Google. The device report in your Google Ads account tells you whether that is your case: check the share of enquiries that came from a computer before deciding.

Where the ads appear

According to Microsoft Advertising Help, search ads can appear alongside results on Microsoft Bing, AOL, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and other partners, and audience ads on MSN, Microsoft Edge and Outlook.com. A distribution setting lets you stay on Microsoft’s own sites if partners send you clicks that do not sell.

What Microsoft Ads does that Google does not

Bidding by LinkedIn profile

This is the strongest argument in B2B. Microsoft states that it is the only ad platform other than LinkedIn able to target on three pieces of LinkedIn profile information: company, industry and job function (sales, accounting, purchasing). The targeting exists for search campaigns, dynamic search ads, Shopping, audience campaigns and Performance Max.

The mechanism matters. The same page explains that this targeting does not restrict your audience: targeting one company does not exclude the others. It is a bid raised or lowered target by target, applied to a search the person typed. A stated intent and a known job function in the same auction: neither Google Ads nor LinkedIn Ads does that on its own.

Ads in Copilot, with no switch

Microsoft also shows ads inside the answers of Copilot, its search assistant. Its help page is unambiguous:

learn.microsoft.com/fr-fr/advertising/msa-help/hlp_ba_conc_adsforcopilot

According to that page, every eligible campaign is opted in automatically, with no way to opt out, and there are no Copilot-specific metrics yet. Your negative keywords apply there, and a search ad needs a logo to appear. Google makes a comparable choice with its AI Overviews, and ChatGPT is opening its own ad platform: we cover both in our article on ads in AI answers.

Trying it without rebuilding everything

The entry effort is small, which is what makes a trial reasonable. Microsoft Advertising imports campaigns directly from Google Ads: keywords, ads, bids and budgets, as a quick or customised import. The same page lists what to review afterwards, and that is where the trial is won or lost.

Three review points are expensive to skip:

• Exclusions. Microsoft has no broad match negative keywords: on import, they become phrase match negatives, which block less. Review your list with our negative keywords guide in mind.
• Budgets. By default, the import raises bids and budgets that are too low to Microsoft’s minimums. If you decline, campaigns below them are not imported.
• Scheduled imports. An automatic import resyncs with Google Ads at the chosen frequency, to the point of re-enabling paused campaigns and restoring Google’s budgets. For a trial, prefer a one-off import, then manage the account separately.

Location and schedule targeting do not carry over as they are: Microsoft recommends reviewing them platform by platform.

Measuring on sales, as on Google

Microsoft Ads is no better judged on submitted forms than Google Ads. It offers the same loop as our guide to sending CRM sales back to Google Ads:

• a click ID, the MSCLKID, added to the landing page address, to be kept with the enquiry;
• an import of CRM stages as offline conversions, by file, by scheduled import from an online location or a published Google Sheets file, or through the API;
• a 90-day limit: according to Microsoft’s page on offline conversions, a conversion uploaded more than 90 days after the last click is not imported, and a daily upload is recommended for automated bidding.

Consent has to be handled at Microsoft too: in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, its tag treats visitors as having declined by default, and conversions are lost if the consent signal is not passed on. How it works is explained in our article on Consent Mode.

When Microsoft Ads is not worth the effort

• When Google is not selling yet. If your Google campaigns have not shown which searches bring customers, copying the problem to Microsoft doubles it. Start with the minimum budget that gives a signal.
• When your buyers search on their phones. On mobile, the share of other engines becomes marginal in France: the device report settles it.
• When nobody will read the account. One more network means more search terms to read every week. If an agency handles it, its contract should say so.

Microsoft Ads alongside the rest of your campaigns

Microsoft’s network replaces nothing; it complements the rest of your setup:

• LinkedIn Ads targets the same job functions without waiting for a search, at a price that is justified in some cases: see who LinkedIn Ads is worth the price for.
• Performance Max exists at Microsoft too, with the same questions about what it decides alone: what the automated campaign hides.
• The landing page is the same for every network: why the ad is never the only problem.
• Customer acquisition cost lets you compare Microsoft and Google on customers, not clicks: calculating it to the signed sale.
• Imported ads keep their copy: if you generate it with AI, what works and what does not, and why an invented promise costs trust (AI and disinformation).
• Retargeting visitors who came through Bing follows the same consent rules: what still works without third-party cookies.
• Ad tests need volume, and a smaller network supplies less of it: how many clicks before concluding.
• Local advertising can be set up at Microsoft too, with its own location options: attracting customers within 20 km.
• Organic search exists on Bing as well, and the question of the first euro arises everywhere: SEO or paid search, where to start.
• Other formats follow the same measurement logic, from video on YouTube to social media.

To add Microsoft Ads to Google campaigns that already sell, with sales measurement in place from the first click, our digital marketing offer connects the ad networks, SEO and the CRM.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. StatCounter Global Stats, search engine market share in France, September 2026 (new tab)gs.statcounter.com
2. Microsoft Advertising, what is the Microsoft Advertising Network? (new tab)learn.microsoft.com
3. Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn profile targeting (new tab)learn.microsoft.com
4. Microsoft Advertising, about ads in Copilot (new tab)learn.microsoft.com
5. Microsoft Advertising, import campaigns directly from Google Ads (new tab)learn.microsoft.com
6. Microsoft Advertising, offline conversion tracking (new tab)learn.microsoft.com