Do Microsoft Ads show up in Copilot?
Yes. Eligible Microsoft Advertising campaigns are automatically opted in to serve in Copilot, using your existing text and image assets, and you cannot opt out. Your negative keywords still apply there.
Microsoft lists the eligible formats: search ads with a logo extension or automated business logo, Shopping and Performance Max product ads, multimedia ads and a few vertical formats. So the practical steps are adding a logo to your search campaigns and keeping your product feed clean if you sell online. Microsoft also says there are currently no Copilot-specific metrics, so you cannot report on that placement by itself.
That last point matters. Since you cannot isolate Copilot traffic, your controls are the same ones you use on Bing: tight negatives, ad copy that makes sense on its own when shown inside a summarized answer, and UET conversion tracking that tells bidding which clicks became customers. If you are thinking about AI answers more broadly, our measurement work is where we tie those clicks back to revenue.
Sources: About ads in Copilot (Microsoft Advertising Help)
Is Microsoft Ads cheaper than Google Ads?
Cost per click is often lower on Microsoft because fewer advertisers compete in most auctions, but cheaper clicks only matter if they convert. Judge it on cost per acquisition from your own account, not on CPC.
The gap depends on your keywords. Heavily contested commercial terms tend to show the biggest difference, while long-tail terms can show almost none. Lower search volume also means lower total spend, so even an efficient Microsoft account stays smaller than Google for most advertisers.
Here is the check we run after the first month: compare cost per acquisition by campaign on Microsoft against the matching campaign on Google, using the same conversion definition on both. If Microsoft is cheaper per customer, it earns more budget until that edge closes. If it is more expensive, look at partner traffic, device mix and leftover imported bids before giving up on it. We report both engines side by side as part of our paid search service, so the comparison stays honest.
How long does it take Microsoft Ads to start working?
Expect a few weeks before results are readable and longer before automated bidding has enough data, because Microsoft has less search volume than Google and conversions build more slowly. Accounts imported from Google need a careful review first.
Two import details catch people out. If no conversion goal exists in Microsoft yet, campaigns on conversion-based bid strategies get switched to a strategy that does not need one, such as Maximize Clicks. And locations Microsoft does not support, like some smaller cities, get expanded to the parent state or region. A campaign tuned tightly on Google can land on Microsoft buying clicks across a whole state.
Our sequence is the same each time. Week one, verify the UET tag and conversion goals and undo whatever the import changed. Weeks two to four, tailor bids, negatives and copy to Microsoft's audience. After that, move campaigns with steady conversions onto conversion-based bidding and leave them alone long enough to learn. If a campaign has almost no conversions after a couple of months, the keywords or landing page are the problem, not patience. See our conversion tracking audit.
Sources: What gets imported from Google Ads (Microsoft Advertising Help)
Should I exclude Microsoft search partners or the Audience Network?
Do not exclude them blindly; review them by site and cut the ones that spend without converting. You cannot block Bing, AOL or Yahoo search traffic on a search campaign, but you can exclude specific partner and audience sites.
Microsoft search campaigns can serve beyond Bing, including syndicated search partners and audience placements such as MSN, Outlook.com and Microsoft Edge. Pull the Website URL (publisher) report, sort by spend, and look for sites with clicks and no conversions. Add them to a website exclusion list at the campaign or ad group level. Microsoft caps those exclusions at 2,500 URLs, and an ad group list overrides the campaign list, so keep them in one place.
We check this weekly in the first month and monthly after that, because partner quality moves around. Some syndicated traffic converts fine and some is low intent. If audience placements keep underperforming, the campaign's ad distribution settings let you narrow where search ads run. This is one of the most common leaks we find in accounts imported from Google and left alone. Our account audit covers both engines.
Sources: How to prevent your ads from showing to certain people (Microsoft Advertising Help)
Can I run Microsoft Ads without Google Ads?
Yes, Microsoft Advertising works on its own, but for most businesses it makes more sense as a second search channel once Google is profitable. The exceptions are budgets that cannot compete on Google and audiences that lean heavily toward Microsoft's users.
Microsoft first can work when Google cost per click is out of reach for a small budget, when your buyers are B2B and you want LinkedIn profile targeting by company, industry or job function, or when your customers mostly search from a desktop at work. In those cases a focused Microsoft account can produce leads that Google would price you out of.
The tradeoff is volume. Microsoft sees fewer searches, so tests take longer and automated bidding has less data. Watch stacked LinkedIn adjustments too: Microsoft multiplies them when a searcher matches more than one segment, so a 10% and a 20% adjustment become 32%, which raises bids faster than people expect. Start with your highest-intent terms and add from there. For related B2B targeting, see mastering Google Ads and LinkedIn ads.
Sources: How to target my customers by adjusting my bids (Microsoft Advertising Help)
Why does my Microsoft Ads account get clicks but few conversions?
Most often the UET tag or conversion goals are broken, imported settings were never adjusted, or partner traffic is soaking up spend. Check tracking first, because if conversions are not recorded, everything else is guesswork.
Open the conversion goals view and confirm each goal shows recent activity, then submit a test lead yourself and watch it arrive. Next, look at what the Google import left behind: bids tuned to Google's auction, bid strategies switched during import, and city targets expanded to whole states. Then run the Website URL report and exclude partner sites with spend and no conversions.
If tracking and settings are clean, look at the message. Microsoft's audience leans toward desktop users at work, so copy and pages built for a quick mobile tap can underperform. A form that is easy on a laptop and clear about next steps often fixes more than a bid change. Finally, review search terms weekly, because negatives that exist on Google are often missing on Microsoft. Our landing page service helps with the page side.
Sources: What gets imported from Google Ads (Microsoft Advertising Help), How to prevent your ads from showing to certain people (Microsoft Advertising Help)
