Google Ads vs Bing Ads
Paid Advertising

Maximising Your PPC Budget: Google Ads vs Bing Ads

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most effective tools for businesses in the UK to reach and engage potential customers. But maximising your PPC budget means selecting the right platform to reach the right audience at the right price. Google Ads and Bing Ads are the two leading paid search platforms in the UK, each with distinct strengths and challenges. While Google Ads often grabs the spotlight, Bing Ads (part of Microsoft Advertising) offers its own powerful potential and can be surprisingly effective for UK businesses targeting specific demographics.

This blog looks into the unique benefits of each platform for the UK market, exploring their audience reach, cost-effectiveness, and audience demographics, and offering practical tips to help British businesses get the most from their PPC budgets.

The Powerhouses of Paid Search: An Overview

Google Ads dominates with an overwhelming share of the search engine market, encompassing approximately 90% of global search traffic. This reach translates into an unparalleled potential audience for businesses, whether the goal is brand awareness, lead generation, or conversions. Through Google Ads, advertisers gain access to extensive targeting features and ad formats, ranging from traditional text ads to advanced display, video, and shopping ads.

This dominance, however, comes at a price. With such vast reach and advanced capabilities, Google Ads is also one of the more competitive and expensive PPC platforms, particularly for popular keywords. As more businesses target Google’s audience, the cost-per-click (CPC) tends to climb, placing greater importance on strategic budget allocation and precision targeting.

Bing Ads: The Underdog with Surprising Reach

Though it commands a smaller share of the UK search market, Bing Ads remains a valuable option, especially for cost-conscious advertisers. Bing powers searches not only on its own platform but also through Yahoo, AOL, and various UK-specific websites, reaching about 7–10% of the UK search audience. Bing also integrates LinkedIn targeting options—unique to the UK market—that make it especially advantageous for B2B advertisers targeting particular professional demographics, such as legal or financial professionals.

In the UK, Bing Ads typically has a lower cost-per-click (CPC) compared to Google Ads, due to lower competition. This affordability makes it an attractive option for businesses targeting niche audiences or those with tighter budgets. Moreover, Bing Ads often appeals to an older, more affluent demographic, which can be advantageous for brands focused on financial services, home improvements, luxury products, and other high-ticket categories.

The Core Differences: Google Ads vs Bing Ads

Both Google Ads and Bing Ads provide robust tools for PPC, but several critical differences impact budget and performance.

1. Reach and Market Share

  • Google Ads captures the majority of search traffic in the UK. Whether you’re a local shop in Surrey or an online business serving the entire UK, Google’s reach offers extensive visibility.
  • Bing Ads, while not as dominant, reaches a quality audience in the UK. Its integration with Yahoo and AOL means it covers a significant segment of desktop searches, appealing especially to users looking for professional services or products.

While Google’s reach makes it ideal for campaigns requiring broad exposure, Bing’s more selective audience may yield higher returns on investment, especially for niche products or premium services targeting mature, affluent consumers.

2. Audience Demographics

  • Google’s Audience is incredibly broad, encompassing users across nearly every age group, location, and interest. However, competition for high-demand audiences leads to higher CPCs.
  • Bing’s Audience Bing tends to attract an older, higher-income demographic. Many Bing users in the UK prefer desktops over mobile, making it a good fit for businesses targeting mature, professional audiences, especially in finance, law, and healthcare.

These audience characteristics mean that if your product or service targets older or wealthier demographics, Bing might be the better choice for stretching your ad spend effectively.

3. Cost Per Click (CPC)

  • Google Ads CPC: Known for high competition, Google Ads tends to have a higher CPC, especially for keywords in highly competitive industries such as finance, legal, and e-commerce.
  • Bing Ads CPC: Bing often has lower CPCs. Due to its smaller user base, competition is less intense, allowing advertisers to gain visibility at a fraction of Google’s CPC for the same or similar keywords.

For advertisers working within tight budgets, Bing’s lower CPC could mean more clicks—and potentially more conversions—for the same expenditure compared to Google Ads.

4. Ad Formats and Placements

  • Google Ads boasts a wide range of ad formats, from text and display ads to shopping, video, and even interactive ads. Google also offers smart bidding strategies and custom intent audiences, which allow advertisers to finely tune campaigns to capture user interest at different stages of the purchase journey.
  • Bing Ads offers similar formats, albeit with fewer options for highly visual or interactive ad types. Nevertheless, Bing’s platform supports search ads, audience ads, and shopping ads, with placement across its network, including Yahoo and AOL. A distinct feature is Bing’s integration with LinkedIn data, enabling precise B2B targeting.

5. Conversion Rates and ROI

Conversion rates can differ significantly between platforms, often due to the variance in audience intent and competition. While data suggests that Google Ads sometimes offers higher conversion rates for general products, Bing’s conversion rates can outperform Google’s in specific industries and demographics. If your campaigns can align closely with Bing’s user base, you may find a strong ROI due to reduced competition and lower CPCs.

Maximising Budget Allocation Between Google Ads and Bing Ads

Deciding on which platform to allocate budget isn’t always straightforward. Often, the answer lies in a combination of both, each optimised for its strengths.

1. Audience Testing and Segmentation

One effective strategy is to run smaller, test campaigns on each platform, measuring performance metrics such as CPC, CTR, and conversion rate. By identifying which platform performs best for different audience segments, advertisers can create a multi-platform strategy that allocates budget based on results, not assumptions.

For instance, if your target audience includes both younger users and older professionals, Google Ads might capture a younger demographic, while Bing Ads focuses on higher-income, older audiences. This dual-platform approach can provide comprehensive coverage without overspending on any single demographic.

2. Leveraging Platform-Specific Features

Each platform’s unique features can be used to your advantage. On Google Ads, leveraging smart bidding and custom audiences allows businesses to capture high-intent users. Conversely, Bing’s LinkedIn profile targeting is an invaluable tool for B2B campaigns, where targeting by job title or industry can yield high-quality leads with minimal spend.

3. Cost Control and CPC Management

Both Google and Bing allow for refined budget controls, but with Bing Ads’ generally lower CPCs, it’s possible to capture more clicks without exhausting your budget. For campaigns where cost per acquisition (CPA) is crucial, allocating a larger portion of the budget to Bing Ads may reduce overall CPA.

Using Bing for specific keywords that may be overly costly on Google is another tactic to maximise budget. You can target the same keywords across both platforms but focus on lower-bid keywords on Bing to improve CPC efficiency.

4. A/B Testing Across Platforms

Running A/B tests on both platforms is essential to understanding what resonates best. A particular ad copy, for instance, might perform exceptionally well on Bing, while a similar ad on Google attracts a different audience response. By testing ad copy, visuals, and even landing pages tailored to each platform, marketers can gather insights into what maximises engagement and conversions for each audience type.

5. Optimising for Seasonal Campaigns

For businesses with seasonal sales or peak periods, experimenting with budget adjustments across platforms can reveal valuable insights. During higher-traffic seasons, Google Ads can be worth the premium due to increased audience reach, while Bing Ads might deliver steady returns when competition is lower.

Complementary Strategies: Using Both Platforms Together

There’s no reason advertisers need to choose one platform exclusively. Many businesses find value in using both Google Ads and Bing Ads in tandem to achieve broader reach and better budget efficiency.

  • Split Testing by Platform: With different demographic strengths, Google Ads and Bing Ads can serve as complementary test platforms. For example, launching identical campaigns on both can help reveal performance metrics that influence future spend allocation.
  • Layered Targeting: If your ideal audience spans both platforms, layered targeting strategies can provide cohesive campaign management. Google Ads might target a broad audience, while Bing Ads provides laser-focused targeting based on specific age, location, or job roles.
  • Budget Shifts Based on Performance: Continuous monitoring is essential. If Bing Ads shows a lower CPA or higher conversion rates for a particular campaign, shifting a larger percentage of your budget from Google to Bing can yield better results without additional costs.

Using Google Ads and Bing Ads together doesn’t mean dividing budget equally; instead, it’s about observing where the budget generates the best results. You may choose to spend 70% on Google and 30% on Bing or vice versa, depending on performance data.

Creating a Winning PPC Strategy with Google Ads and Bing Ads

Maximising your PPC budget requires strategic thinking, careful analysis, and a willingness to adapt based on performance. Google Ads and Bing Ads each present unique opportunities and challenges. Google’s vast reach and advanced features make it ideal for brand visibility, while Bing’s more affordable CPC and targeted audience can offer efficient budget use for niche campaigns.

The optimal approach often involves blending both platforms, using their individual strengths to create a comprehensive, well-rounded PPC strategy. With Google Ads, you tap into a global user base with sophisticated targeting capabilities, which is perfect for brands looking to scale and reach diverse audiences. Meanwhile, Bing Ads offers budget-friendly options and access to an often-overlooked demographic, particularly valuable for B2B businesses or products that resonate with higher-income and older audiences.

Top