Scalepoint manages Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) for Australian businesses. Microsoft Advertising reaches Bing, Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft's partner network — approximately 6–8% of Australian search volume. The advertisers competing for that traffic are fewer than on Google, which typically means lower CPCs, lower CPLs, and a meaningful return for businesses willing to expand beyond Google alone.
Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) is Microsoft's paid advertising platform, serving ads across Bing (Australia's second-largest search engine), Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft's Audience Network (MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Edge). It operates similarly to Google Ads — keyword-based search campaigns, shopping campaigns for ecommerce, and display audience campaigns — but with significantly lower competition and CPCs in most categories. Microsoft Ads reach a distinct demographic slice of Australian searchers: Bing's Australian user base skews slightly older (35–65), has higher average household income than the Google average, and includes significant corporate and government search volume (Microsoft Edge is the default browser on Windows devices, driving enterprise search through Bing by default). For businesses where that demographic aligns — financial services, home improvement, professional services, B2B — Microsoft Ads consistently delivers leads at 20–40% lower CPL than equivalent Google Ads campaigns.
Google dominates Australian search with approximately 92–94% market share. Microsoft's 6–8% sounds small — but for a business generating 100 leads per month from Google, Microsoft Ads adds 15–20 additional leads at a lower cost per lead, because fewer advertisers compete for Bing impressions. The audience is not inferior — it is different. Bing's Australian desktop search user base has higher average income and household net worth than the Google average, making it particularly valuable for financial services, home services, and professional services categories. A mortgage broker adding Microsoft Search Ads to an existing Google and social strategy generated 30+ additional inbound leads per month at a $32 CPL — competitive with Google, from a channel most competitors were not using (Scalepoint client, 2025–26).
additional inbound leads per month for a mortgage broker adding Microsoft Search to an existing Google Ads strategy (Scalepoint client, 2025–26)
competitive CPL achieved on Microsoft Search for a financial services client — matching Google CPL from a less-competitive auction (Scalepoint client, 2025–26)
typical CPL reduction on Microsoft Ads versus equivalent Google Ads campaigns in low-competition categories — less competition means lower CPCs
Most businesses skip Microsoft Ads because it seems small. The ones running it consistently find it generates profitable incremental leads at lower CPL than their primary Google Ads spend.
Microsoft Ads allows direct import from Google Ads — campaign structure, keywords, ad copy, and extensions import automatically. This dramatically reduces setup time and ensures parity with your Google strategy from day one. We audit the import, adapt for Bing-specific optimisations, and add Microsoft-only features.
Microsoft Ads CPCs are typically 20–40% lower than Google Ads for equivalent keywords in most Australian categories. This means the same budget buys more clicks and more conversions. We set bid strategies that maximise this advantage — starting with manual CPC to gather data, then moving to automated Smart Bidding once conversion volume supports it.
Microsoft Advertising's unique advantage is LinkedIn profile data integration — allowing audience targeting by job title, company, and industry from within Microsoft Ads. For B2B businesses, this is a significant advantage over Google Ads, which does not have access to professional identity data.
Microsoft's Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag is the equivalent of the Google Pixel — it tracks website conversions and builds audience lists for retargeting. We install and verify UET as part of onboarding, set up conversion goals aligned with your business objectives, and verify that conversion data is flowing correctly before any spend.
Microsoft Shopping Ads serve product listings on Bing Shopping — a frequently overlooked channel for ecommerce businesses. The product feed connects from Google Merchant Center (simplifying setup) and serves product ads to Bing's search audience, which skews slightly older with higher average purchase value.
Microsoft Ads reporting integrated with overall cross-channel reporting — showing Microsoft's contribution to total lead volume and CPL. We track Microsoft performance in parallel with Google to demonstrate the incremental value of running both channels.
If you are running Google Ads at capacity and want more volume, Microsoft Ads is the first incremental search channel to test. Campaign structure and creative from Google imports directly — setup is fast and the incremental leads come at a lower CPL in most categories.
Bing's demographic skew toward older, higher-income users makes it particularly valuable for financial services (mortgages, financial advice, accounting), legal services, and professional services targeting decision-makers with disposable income or business budgets.
Microsoft Ads' LinkedIn data integration allows B2B businesses to layer professional targeting (job title, company, industry) onto Bing search campaigns — a capability Google does not offer. This hybrid search-plus-professional targeting is uniquely available through Microsoft Advertising.
Bing's desktop-heavy user base (Windows default browser) skews toward home improvement searches made from desktop computers at home — often by the household decision-maker researching before calling. For trades and home services, this intent profile can produce high-quality leads.
No call required. Tell us your business and goals — we send back a written audit within 3 business days.