Is Microsoft Advertising worth it for B2B in 2026?
Microsoft Advertising is a smaller channel with a clear desktop and professional skew, and the trouble is that almost no B2B-specific performance data exists to size it properly. I've never worked on Microsoft Advertising (LinkedIn, where I worked, belongs to Microsoft but runs a separate ad platform), so I have no inside view of Microsoft's ad platform and won't write as if I did. What follows is limited to what has a traceable source, and there's less of it than any advertiser would like.
The case for Microsoft rests on two real things, both worth taking seriously: it reaches desktop searchers that Google-only advertisers miss, and it's the one search platform that can target by LinkedIn profile data. Neither comes with the kind of published B2B cost benchmark that LinkedIn, or even Google, can offer, so this article keeps the facts that have a primary source apart from the widely repeated numbers that don't.
The Microsoft Ads offer, LinkedIn Profile Targeting included, is on the Microsoft Ads service page. This article checks the published evidence that page relies on.
How big is Microsoft's search reach?
Microsoft's share of search is small worldwide and noticeably larger on desktop, where B2B research happens. Independent measurement from Statcounter puts Bing at 5.29% of worldwide search across all devices in September 2026. Its desktop share ran between 8.84% and 10.71% a month from January to August 2026, then jumped to about 14.6% in September; one month isn't a trend, so I'd plan on the lower range until the new level holds. For B2B, the desktop figure is the one to use, because people research business software disproportionately at a desk.
Microsoft publishes its own figures too, but only for US PC traffic, and they come with a caveat about their age.
| Metric (Microsoft official, US, PC) | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly PC searches | 6.4 billion |
| Unique PC users | 109 million |
| PC search market share | 38.1% |
Source: Microsoft Advertising, Search ads page, citing Comscore qSearch, March 2023, United States, desktop traffic only.
Read those with care: they're US desktop-only figures from Comscore's March 2023 measurement, so I'd treat them as "what Microsoft currently publishes" rather than fresh 2026 measurement. The cleaner numbers, and the ones measured independently, are Statcounter's desktop shares above.
Is Microsoft Advertising growing?
Yes, though growth has slowed over the past year. Microsoft's own investor materials report that search and news advertising revenue rose $1.6 billion, or 13%, in fiscal year 2025, and 20% excluding traffic acquisition costs, on the back of higher search volume and higher revenue per search.
The latest quarter shows the slowdown. In fiscal 2026 Q4 (reported 29 July 2026), search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs grew 10%, or 9% in constant currency. The same investor materials put the two quarters before it at 10% ex-TAC in Q2 and 12% in Q3: a steady trend rather than a falling one, but running at roughly half the ex-TAC rate of fiscal 2025. For a B2B advertiser, this describes a business Microsoft keeps investing in and expanding, but one that is maturing, not accelerating, so don't expect the platform's audience to suddenly rival Google's.
What is LinkedIn Profile Targeting?
LinkedIn Profile Targeting lets you adjust bids on Microsoft search ads by company, industry, and job function, and among search platforms only Microsoft offers it. The official Microsoft Learn documentation confirms the three targeting dimensions and one hard limit: you can't target more than 1,000 companies in a single ad group or campaign. It also states that the feature won't narrow your ads' audience.
What Microsoft doesn't publish is a reach number for it. The uplift figures quoted around the web (precise percentage gains in conversion rate or click-through rate from using it) come from aggregator pages that cite untraceable sources, and no primary Microsoft source backs them up, so I'm not repeating them: an uplift nobody can trace is no basis for a plan. What Microsoft does document is the capability itself, which is real and worth using for account-based work, because no other search platform offers professional targeting at this granularity.
Is Microsoft Ads cheaper than Google?
The claim that Microsoft Ads is cheaper per click than Google is everywhere, but no 2025 or 2026 primary source shows it. The often-quoted "Microsoft is around a third cheaper" comparison goes back to aggregator pages that misattribute it, and the major search benchmark reports blend Google and Microsoft campaigns without breaking out a platform-level CPC. WordStream's 2026 benchmarks, the same dataset behind our Google Ads benchmarks, use a blended sample and never state that Bing is cheaper by a precise percentage.
Lower Microsoft CPCs are plausible, and they would fit a less competitive auction, but no current benchmark puts a number on the gap. If cheaper clicks are your reason for testing Microsoft, measure the difference in your own account instead of trusting a figure with no primary source behind it.
Where does Microsoft Ads fit in a B2B stack?
Microsoft Ads works as an incremental, low-effort extension of a Google search program you already run, with professional targeting as a bonus. Microsoft can import campaigns from Google, so a test costs little to set up, and its desktop-heavy audience, targetable by LinkedIn profile, is a reasonable place to capture B2B search demand that Google-only coverage misses.
Microsoft isn't a primary channel, and nothing published supports treating it as one. It makes sense as an add-on once your Google Ads program is working, especially if you sell into industries where desktop research and LinkedIn-style firmographic targeting help, and it pairs naturally with the demand your LinkedIn Ads create. Run it as a test of incremental reach and judge it on your own pipeline, because the public data won't size it for you. To set a first test budget, the B2B ads budget calculator gives a directional estimate by region, industry and objective. Once you've decided to test it, our Microsoft Advertising best practices article covers how to run it, cross-referencing Microsoft's own documentation with independent practitioners.
Frequently asked questions
What is Microsoft Advertising's market share in 2026?
Statcounter's independent data puts Bing at 5.29% of worldwide search across all devices in September 2026, and at 8.84% to 10.71% on desktop from January to August before a jump to about 14.6% in September (Statcounter 2026). Microsoft's own figure is higher, a 38.1% PC share, but it covers US desktop traffic only and comes from Comscore's March 2023 measurement.
Is Microsoft Ads cheaper than Google Ads?
Possibly, but no current primary source shows it. Benchmark reports blend the two platforms, and the widely quoted "cheaper" figures come from aggregators that misattribute them, so measure the difference in your own account.
What makes LinkedIn Profile Targeting useful for B2B?
It lets you adjust search ad bids by company, industry, and job function, which no other search platform offers (Microsoft Learn 2026). The limit is 1,000 companies per ad group or campaign, and Microsoft publishes no reach figure for it.
Is Microsoft Advertising still growing?
Yes, more slowly. Search and news ad revenue grew 20% ex-TAC in fiscal 2025, then search ad revenue 10% ex-TAC in fiscal 2026 Q4 (Microsoft 2026), so the business is maturing rather than accelerating.
Should Microsoft Ads be a primary B2B channel?
The public evidence doesn't support it. Microsoft Ads works best as a low-effort, incremental extension of a Google Ads program, chosen for its desktop reach and LinkedIn Profile Targeting, not as a standalone lead engine.