How to Advertise on Bing: Setup, Costs and Your First Campaign

Last updated: 22 October 2026

Want to advertise on Bing but not sure where to start? This guide covers the Microsoft Advertising account, your first search campaign, the Google Ads import, real costs and tracking. Platform facts link to Microsoft’s own help pages, and cost figures come from accounts we manage.

Quick Answer: how do you advertise on Bing?

To advertise on Bing, create a free Microsoft Advertising account, add a payment method, then build a search campaign or import one from Google Ads. Your ads can show on Bing, Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo and partner sites. You pay per click, and you set a daily budget that you can change at any time.

Here is the whole process at a glance:

Sources: Microsoft help on Smart campaigns and UET (June 2026); test budget from our accounts.

Want a second opinion first? Get Free Audit Worth $500

What is Bing advertising, and is it the same as Microsoft Ads?

Bing advertising is pay-per-click advertising run through Microsoft Advertising, the platform once called Bing Ads. Bing Ads, Microsoft Ads and Microsoft Advertising all describe the same account, the same auction and the same login. Some people still search for “Bing AdWords”, but AdWords was Google’s old name, not a Microsoft product.

The platform works like Google Ads: you choose keywords, write ads and set bids, and an auction run after each search decides which ads appear and in what order.

The network has two halves:

• Search advertising: ads shown next to search results when people search for what you sell.
• Audience advertising: ads on sites such as MSN, Microsoft Start, Microsoft Edge and Outlook.com, chosen through your placement settings.

This guide covers search first, because that is where most new advertisers should start.

Where do Bing ads show?

Bing search ads show on Microsoft Bing and on partner search engines, including Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia. Search campaigns can also be extended to audience placements on MSN, Microsoft Start, Microsoft Edge and Outlook.com. Your ad distribution setting decides how far beyond Microsoft’s own sites your ads travel.

This table maps each placement to the setting that controls it, based on Microsoft’s help pages on the Microsoft Advertising Network and ad distribution settings (both updated 19 June 2026):

Microsoft recommends the entire network because it “can extend your ad reach, drive conversions, and provide a lower cost per click.” Ad distribution is an ad group-level setting, so you can change it later. Check partner traffic after the first month. Our guide to excluding Microsoft syndicated search partners shows how to review it, and our Microsoft Audience Network guide covers the audience side.

Is advertising on Bing worth it for your business?

Advertising on Bing is usually worth testing if your Google Ads already make money, your customers search from work computers, or you sell to businesses. It is rarely the place to start if you have no conversion tracking, a tiny budget, or a product that only sells on mobile. Treat it as an extra source of the same buyers, not a replacement for Google.

In the accounts from our cost study, Microsoft budgets usually ran at 10% to 30% of the matching Google budget. Start at the low end and raise it only when cost per lead or sale holds up.

Use this quick check before you open an account:

1. Proven offer: your Google Ads or other paid search already brings leads or sales at a cost you can live with.
2. Tracking ready: you can track forms, calls or purchases, so you can judge Microsoft on real results.
3. Desktop buyers: your buyers research at work or on a Windows PC.
4. B2B fit: you want to reach companies, industries or job roles. Microsoft says it is the only ad platform besides LinkedIn that offers LinkedIn profile targeting (updated 27 July 2026).
5. Budget room: you can fund a month of testing without starving Google.

If three or more of these fit, a test makes sense.

How do you set up a Microsoft Advertising account?

To set up a Microsoft Advertising account, sign up at ads.microsoft.com with any email address, enter your business details, choose your billing country and payment method, and accept the terms. Microsoft Advertising Support confirmed in a January 2024 answer that signing up is free and that Gmail, Yahoo, work and school addresses all work.

1. Sign in or create a Microsoft account: use the email you want tied to billing and alerts.
2. Add business details: legal name, phone, location and time zone, as listed in a February 2025 support answer.
3. Choose billing: pick the billing country and add a payment method.
4. Accept the terms: then decide whether to import campaigns or build new ones.
5. Check the account mode: confirm whether you are in Smart mode or Expert mode before building anything.

Smart mode or Expert mode: which should you choose?

Smart mode suits a small business that wants Microsoft’s AI to run simple Bing search ads. Expert mode suits anyone who wants to choose bids, use Shopping or audience campaigns, or work in Microsoft Advertising Editor. Microsoft notes that the mode you start in can depend on your location, and Smart mode is offered in 11 markets, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Here is how the two modes differ, from Microsoft’s page on account modes (updated 26 June 2026):

We set up client accounts in Expert mode for control over match types, negatives and bids.

Why do new Microsoft Ads accounts get suspended?

New accounts are sometimes suspended over a policy concern before any ad runs. In a September 2023 support reply, Microsoft said it does not share the exact reason and pointed the advertiser to the appeal form in the suspension email. Use business details that match your website, and never open a second account to get around a suspension.

How do you create your first Bing ads campaign?

To create your first Bing ads campaign, select Create, choose a goal such as Drive conversions or Generate leads, pick Search, then work through settings, keywords, one ad, budget and bids. Microsoft’s Search campaign guide (updated 17 June 2026) lists these steps.

1. Goal and type: select Create, choose your goal, select Search and Search ads, and confirm the campaign is not political advertising.
2. Settings: add your website, campaign name, daily budget, locations, language and conversion goal.
3. Keywords: add your own keywords and set the match type for each.
4. Ad: write one Responsive Search ad. Microsoft lets you create only one ad during campaign setup, so add more ads after you save.
5. Budget and bids: pick a bid strategy, set an ad schedule and choose your ad distribution.
6. Go live: review the summary and launch. Microsoft says ads will begin appearing shortly unless there is an account error.

Which keyword match type should a new Bing campaign use?

A new Bing campaign should start on exact match. Ishant Sharma’s rule from his own accounts is that broad match only works once an account has conversion data, so exact match comes first and phrase or broad come later. Exact terms can cost more per click, but the traffic matches what you sell.

Build your negative keyword list before launch, in phrase and exact match, and keep it as one shared list applied to every campaign. That way, a gap in one campaign does not leak spend. Note that Microsoft does not use broad match negative keywords and treats them as phrase match.

What should you add after launch?

• More ads: two or three Responsive Search ads per ad group.
• Extensions: sitelinks, callouts and call extensions. Our list of Bing ad extensions covers each one.
• A bid strategy plan: match it to your conversion volume with our Bing Ads bidding strategies guide.
• Shopping: if you sell products, see our Bing Shopping feed guide.

Should you import your Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Ads?

Importing your Google Ads campaigns is the fastest way to start on Bing, and it works well for keywords, ads and structure. It is not a finished build. Some items do not import, bids and budgets may change, and scheduled imports can undo edits you make on the Microsoft side.

Microsoft lets you import up to 10 Google Ads accounts at once from a manager account, but it recommends one Google Ads account per Microsoft account. Here is what changes on import, from that page and Microsoft’s list of what gets imported (updated 26 June 2026):

Microsoft also warns that settings from one platform “will very likely not be appropriate for the other product,” so we treat the import as scaffolding and review locations, devices and bids by hand. Our Google Ads to Microsoft Ads import guide goes through each option and error.

How much does it cost to advertise on Bing?

Advertising on Bing costs whatever you choose to spend on clicks, with no sign-up fee. Microsoft’s minimum daily budget is US$0.05 and its minimum keyword bid is US$0.05. In our accounts, a useful first test needs $500 to $1,000 a month in ad spend, plus any management fee.

These are the cost items to plan for, from Microsoft’s currency and limits page (updated 8 July 2026) and budget options page (updated 19 June 2026):

Microsoft says it “usually keeps overspend to less than 100% above your daily limit,” so a $20 daily budget can spend close to $40 on a busy day, but the monthly cap still holds.

How much is a click on Bing?

Average search clicks in the accounts from our Bing Ads vs Google Ads cost study ranged from $0.82 to $7.71 over twelve months, with a weighted average of $4.74. Business-to-business accounts sat at the top of that range. Bing was not always cheaper: in two of four accounts compared directly, Microsoft search clicks cost more than Google’s.

What will a first-month budget buy?

This worked example shows roughly how many clicks a monthly test budget buys at the low, average and high click prices from that study. It is a planning aid, not a forecast for your account.

Click prices from the Hustle Marketers cost study linked above; clicks are spend divided by cost per click, rounded down.

If you expect a high click price, narrow your keywords so you still collect enough clicks to judge results. Our CPC calculator runs the same math for your own numbers.

Not sure your budget is set up to learn anything? Get Free Audit Worth $500

How do you track results from Bing ads?

You track Bing ad results with a UET tag, Microsoft’s Universal Event Tracking code, plus at least one conversion goal. Microsoft says you need a UET tag on every page of your site “before you can track conversions or target audiences using a remarketing list,” according to its UET setup guide (updated 12 June 2026).

1. Create the tag: select Create UET tag, name it and pick your website’s industry.
2. Install it: add the code to every page, directly or through Google Tag Manager.
3. Add conversion goals: one for each action that matters, such as a purchase, a form or a call.
4. Test it: complete a test conversion and confirm the tag status before you raise spend.

Our Microsoft UET tag setup guide covers Tag Manager, revenue tracking, consent mode and fixes when the tag does not fire.

What mistakes do new Bing advertisers make?

The most common mistakes new Bing advertisers make are launching without conversion tracking, leaving a scheduled Google import running, starting on broad match with no negatives, and judging the platform too early. Each one wastes budget or produces data you cannot trust.

• Launching without UET: without conversions, you cannot compare Bing with Google.
• Forgetting a scheduled import: campaigns you paused or budgets you cut can return after the next sync.
• Starting on broad match: with no conversion data, broad match spends on loosely related searches.
• Ignoring partner traffic: check the publisher report after the first month and exclude sites that do not convert.
• Judging too early: low volume accounts need a month or more of data.

For the full monthly routine once you are live, use our Bing Ads optimization checklist.

How can Hustle Marketers help you advertise on Bing?

Hustle Marketers sets up and manages Microsoft Advertising accounts for businesses that want Bing to add sales and leads. Founder Ishant Sharma has worked in Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and SEO since 2013, and Hustle Marketers is a Microsoft Advertising Partner, Google Partner and Meta Business Partner.

For an epoxy flooring manufacturer, we built Microsoft Search and Shopping campaigns split by intent. From 1 March to 15 August 2026, the account returned 10.8x ROAS on 240 conversions, from US$17,476.19 in ad spend, per the Microsoft Advertising dashboard figures published in our epoxy flooring Bing Ads case study. That is one account’s result, not a promise for yours.

• Pricing: PPC management costs US$600 to US$800 per platform a month, month to month, as listed on our PPC management page.
• Ownership: every ad account stays in your name.
• Reviews: 591+ reviews across Google, Trustpilot, Clutch, G2, DesignRush, Upwork and other platforms, with Clutch Award wins in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
• Direct access: see client video reviews of Ishant or read about his work as a Google Ads specialist.

To hand the account over, see our Bing Ads agency service or read our Bing Ads management guide first.

Advertising on Bing FAQs

Is it free to advertise on Bing?

Opening a Microsoft Advertising account is free, but the ads are not. You pay each time someone clicks a search ad, up to the daily budget you set.

What is the minimum budget for Bing ads?

Microsoft’s technical minimum is US$0.05 a day, which is too low to get useful data. We suggest a test budget of $500 to $1,000 a month in ad spend, and more if your clicks cost over $5.

Do Bing ads show on Yahoo and DuckDuckGo?

Yes. Microsoft lists Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia among the search sites where its search ads can appear. How much partner traffic you get depends on your ad distribution setting.

Are Bing ads cheaper than Google Ads?

Sometimes. In our accounts, Microsoft search clicks were cheaper than Google in some accounts and pricier in others, so compare cost per sale or lead, not cost per click.

How long does it take for Bing ads to start showing?

Microsoft reviews new ads against its policies, usually in less than a day for Smart campaigns. Once approved, ads start showing as long as the account has a valid payment method and no errors.

Can I target LinkedIn users with Bing ads?

You can raise bids for people by company, industry or job function using LinkedIn profile data. It does not limit who sees the ad. Microsoft caps company targeting at 1,000 companies per ad group or campaign.

Should I run Bing ads and Google Ads at the same time?

Yes, if Google already works. Running both reaches buyers on more search engines. Keep budgets separate so each platform is judged on its own results.

Do I need an agency to advertise on Bing?

No. Many businesses run a small Bing account themselves. An agency helps most when wasted clicks start to hurt, or when nobody has time to review search terms each week.

What is the next step?

Open a free account, install the UET tag, and launch one exact match search campaign with a shared negative list and a budget you can hold for a month. Then compare cost per lead or sale with Google before you scale. Want an outside view first? We will look for wasted spend and tracking gaps in your account.

Get Free Audit Worth $500