Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising is Microsoft’s pay per click platform, formerly called Bing Ads, which places your ads on Bing search results, on partner search sites and on other placements in the Microsoft network. It suits owners and PPC managers who already advertise on Google and want to reach the people who search on Bing, often at work, on Windows computers or in the Edge browser. Canada Create is a Toronto agency that provides Microsoft Advertising setup and Bing Ads management for businesses across Canada, from the first import of your Google Ads campaigns to monthly reports that show both platforms side by side, with every account kept in your name.

Contents

• What Microsoft Advertising is and where ads appear
• Who searches on Bing
• Importing from Google Ads, then fixing what came across
• The UET tag and conversion goals
• Keywords, match types and negatives
• Campaign types, assets and schedules
• French and English campaigns for Quebec
• Reporting beside Google Ads
• Where Microsoft Advertising fits in your search plan
• Editorial policies, truthful ads and privacy
• How we take on a Microsoft Advertising account
• What it costs
• Questions before you hire help
• Your next step

What Microsoft Advertising is and where ads appear

Microsoft Advertising works much like other search ad platforms. You choose keywords that describe what you sell, write ads, set a budget and a location, and pay when someone clicks. The difference is where those ads show and who sees them.

Bing and partner search sites

Text ads appear at the top and bottom of Bing search results. They can also appear on other search sites that use Microsoft’s ad network, so a campaign reaches some people who never open Bing directly. Advertisers can choose whether ads run on Bing only or on partner sites as well, and we review partner placement results before deciding.

The wider Microsoft network

Beyond search, Microsoft offers audience ads that show as images and text on sites and apps in its network, and shopping ads built from a product feed. Available placements change over time and vary by market, so we confirm what is offered in Canada for your account when planning.

The name change

Many people still search for Bing Ads. That was the platform’s former name; it is now Microsoft Advertising, and old guides that mention Bing Ads usually describe the same account and tools.

Who searches on Bing

Bing is built into Windows search and is the default engine in the Edge browser, and many people keep whatever their computer came with. That produces a search audience that overlaps with Google’s but is not the same.

Desktop and workplace searchers

Company computers are often set up by an IT department and left on default settings. A purchasing manager looking for industrial fasteners, a paralegal researching a court reporting service or an office manager pricing a commercial cleaner may well be searching on Bing during the working day. For B2B suppliers and professional firms, those are valuable searches.

Home users on default settings

Outside the office, people who use a Windows laptop with Edge may search on Bing without thinking about it. Homeowners looking for a furnace repair or a family comparing summer camps are part of that group.

No promises about the size

How many of your buyers search on Bing depends on your field, your region and your audience. We do not quote general figures; the honest way to find out is a properly tracked campaign and a few months of results compared with Google.

Importing from Google Ads, then fixing what came across

Microsoft Advertising lets you import campaigns from a Google Ads account, including campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads. It is the fastest way to start, and also where most problems begin, because an import copies the structure but not always the right settings.

Bids and budgets

Bids that suit Google rarely suit Microsoft, where competition on the same keyword can be very different. Budgets copied across may be too large for the available searches or too small for a busy category. After import, bids and daily budgets are set for Microsoft on their own terms.

Negative keywords

Negative keywords and lists need checking after import. Bing also brings its own odd matches, so a fresh search terms review in the first weeks catches irrelevant queries that Google never sent.

Location and language settings

Location options and language settings must be checked one by one. A Google campaign aimed at the GTA should still be aimed at the GTA after import, and French campaigns must stay French.

Ad assets

Sitelinks, callouts, call details and other assets may come across in part or need rebuilding, and Microsoft offers some options of its own. Each one is checked so ads show complete information.

Scheduled imports

Imports can be repeated on a schedule to keep the two accounts aligned. That is convenient, but a scheduled import can overwrite changes made directly in Microsoft Advertising. We decide with you which parts stay synced and which are managed separately.

When the Google account is not ready

An import copies problems as faithfully as it copies good work. If the Google account has no reliable tracking, mixed services in one ad group or a search terms list nobody has read in months, importing it simply doubles the mess. In that case the free review says so plainly, and the custom proposal fixes the source account first or builds the Microsoft campaigns from a clean structure instead of a copy.

The UET tag and conversion goals

Google’s tracking tag does not report to Microsoft. Microsoft Advertising uses its own tag, Universal Event Tracking, usually called UET, placed on your website.

What the UET tag does

The UET tag records what visitors do after clicking an ad: reaching a thank you page, submitting a form, booking, calling from the site or completing a purchase. It also builds audiences of past visitors that can be used for remarketing on the Microsoft network.

Conversion goals

Goals tell the platform which of those actions count. A law firm may count consultation requests; a retailer, purchases with their value; a supplier, quote requests. Clear goals let reports show cost per enquiry or sale rather than clicks alone, and let automated bidding work toward the right outcome.

Consent first

The UET tag collects personal information, so it is installed alongside a privacy policy and a consent banner that work, and set to respect the choices visitors make.

Keywords, match types and negatives

Keyword management on Microsoft Advertising follows familiar principles, with its own search behaviour to learn.

Match types

Broad, phrase and exact match control how closely a search must resemble your keyword. Imported match types are reviewed against what Bing actually sends, and tightened where loose matching brings poor searches.

The search terms report

The search terms report shows the real queries behind each click. Reading it regularly reveals both waste and opportunity: searches worth their own keyword and ad, and searches that should never trigger your ads.

Bing specific negatives

Some irrelevant searches appear on Bing more than on Google, often from different phrasing habits. A separate negative list for Microsoft keeps these out without disturbing the Google account.

Automated bidding on smaller numbers

Microsoft Advertising offers automated bid strategies that aim for clicks, conversions or a target cost. They need enough conversions to learn from, and a newer or smaller Microsoft campaign may not have them yet. Starting with simpler bidding and switching once conversion data builds up usually gives steadier results than turning on the most automated option on the first day.

Campaign types, assets and schedules

Most businesses start with search campaigns, then add other types where they suit what is sold.

Search campaigns

Text ads on search results are the core of Microsoft Advertising. For service businesses they carry most of the budget, with campaigns split by service or region so results are easy to read.

Shopping campaigns

Online retailers can show product ads with image, price and store name, built from a product feed submitted to Microsoft. If you already run shopping ads on Google, the feed usually needs only light changes, and those campaigns can sit next to Shopify advertising campaigns on other channels.

Audience ads

Audience ads appear as image and text placements on sites and apps in the Microsoft network and can be aimed at past site visitors or people with relevant interests. They suit some businesses as a supporting channel, much as Google display and remarketing ads do on Google’s network. Microsoft also offers some targeting based on professional details, such as company or job function, where it is available.

Assets, hours and devices

The details that make ads useful and keep spend sensible need attention after import too. Sitelinks to key pages, callouts for things such as free estimates or same day shipping, structured lists of services and call details all make ads larger and clearer. Each is written for the business, not left at imported defaults.

If your phones are answered weekdays only, ads that invite calls can run when someone is there to answer. A B2B supplier may concentrate budget on business hours, when workplace searchers are active.

Bing traffic often leans toward desktop and laptop computers. Device settings and landing pages are checked so desktop visitors get pages that make sense on a big screen and phone visitors can still tap to call.

French and English campaigns for Quebec

A Montreal shopper searching Bing for “plombier urgence” and a Toronto shopper typing “emergency plumber” deserve different ads, different keyword lists and different pages. Microsoft Advertising lets each campaign carry a language setting, so the French side can be built properly rather than tacked on after the English launch.

Separate campaigns by language

French and English run as separate campaigns with their own keywords, ads, budgets and landing pages. That keeps the search terms report readable and lets you see what each language produces.

French keywords and ads

French searchers use their own phrasing for services and products, which is rarely a direct translation of the English keyword. Our team works in English and French, so ads and keywords are written by people who use the language.

Reporting beside Google Ads

An owner adding Microsoft Advertising wants to know one thing: is it worth the money compared with Google? Reports are built to answer that.

Side by side figures

Each month you see spend, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion for Microsoft Advertising next to the same figures for Google Ads, by campaign and by service, so differences are easy to see.

Judging over a sensible period

Smaller campaigns produce fewer conversions, so a single week means little. Results are compared over a period long enough to be fair, and decisions about shifting budget between platforms are made on those totals.

Decisions, not just data

Every report ends with the changes we made, what we suggest next and the decisions that are yours to make, such as moving budget or adding a campaign type.

Reading Microsoft results on their own terms

A campaign on Bing may convert at a different rate from its Google twin, attract larger or smaller orders, or bring more calls during office hours. Those differences are useful. A supplier may find Microsoft brings fewer enquiries but more from purchasing departments; a retailer may see a different mix of products sold. The report points these patterns out so budget follows what each platform does well.

Where Microsoft Advertising fits in your search plan

Microsoft Advertising usually sits beside a Google account, not in place of one. Our Google Ads management services in Toronto lead the search side of your plan, and Microsoft campaigns are often built from those accounts. Businesses whose enquiries come by phone can read about phone call campaigns on Google, and those focused on form fills about search campaigns for enquiries.

Whichever engine sends the click, the page decides what happens next. A dedicated landing page for each service and conversion rate improvements on your existing site help both platforms. Companies selling to other businesses can see how search fits into a wider B2B marketing plan, and enquiries from both platforms can be recorded in CS+, our CRM, which we set up and connect through our CRM services.

Editorial policies, truthful ads and privacy

Microsoft Advertising reviews ads and landing pages against its own editorial guidelines and restricted category policies. Health, finance, legal services and several other categories face added rules or limits, and the details change from time to time. We check what applies to your business before ads are written.

Truthful claims and real prices

Canada’s Competition Act expects advertising claims to be truthful and prices to be real and available. Ad text promising savings, sale prices or performance must match what customers actually get on the landing page.

Tracking and personal information

Every form fill and purchase the UET tag records is tied to a real visitor, which brings privacy duties. Under PIPEDA, the general federal rules, people should know what is collected and agree to it; Law 25 raises that bar for Quebec searchers. A clear privacy notice and a cookie choice that the tag actually honours come before launch. Clicks are billed by Microsoft, and lower costs, better positions or a set number of leads are never promised. This is a marketing observation, not legal advice.

How we take on a Microsoft Advertising account

Canada Create works in plain, written steps.

A free review

We look at your Google Ads account if you have one, your website and tracking, your goals and any past Bing activity, and tell you whether the Google account is in good enough shape to import.

A custom proposal

The proposal lists which campaigns to import and which to leave behind, what changes after import, how the UET tag and goals will be set up, the languages and regions covered and what the report will show. Our fees are quoted in writing, with the suggested Microsoft budget listed on its own line.

Import, correct and launch

The account is opened or cleaned up in your business’s name, campaigns are imported and corrected, the UET tag is installed and campaigns go live after your approval.

Monthly reporting

Each month you receive the side by side report and a short review of search terms, budgets and next steps.

What it costs

Your budget for clicks on Bing and the Microsoft network is charged by Microsoft to your own card, and appears on Microsoft’s invoices, not ours. Our fee for importing, correcting and running the account is quoted in writing after the free review, once we have seen your Google account and your tracking.

What drives the quote

• How many Google Ads campaigns are imported and how much correction they need.
• Whether the UET tag and conversion goals are new or already in place.
• Whether shopping campaigns and a product feed are included.
• Whether audience campaigns are added beyond search.
• Whether French campaigns are written alongside English ones.
• How many services or regions are reported separately.

A single location business importing two search campaigns is a very different quote from a national retailer adding shopping and audience campaigns in two languages.

Questions before you hire help

Many managers treat Microsoft Advertising as a copy button. The right one treats it as its own platform with its own settings.

Questions worth asking

• Who owns the accounts? The answer should be you, for the Microsoft Advertising account, the UET tag and the campaign history.
• What will you change after importing our Google campaigns?
• Will scheduled imports overwrite changes made in Microsoft?
• How will conversions be tracked on Microsoft, separately from Google?
• Will French ads be written in French, not machine translated?
• Will the report compare both platforms side by side?
• Is our ad spend shown separately from your fees?

Warning signs

Be wary of anyone who promises cheaper clicks or more sales than Google before seeing your account, who imports campaigns and never touches them again, or who opens the account under their own business name.

Your next step

Your first step is a free review of your search accounts and tracking. Have your Google Ads access ready if you run it, note the services or products that already sell well through search and list the regions and languages you serve. Call (416) 273-9030, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm, and Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm. After hours, our 24/7 AI agent answers the toll-free line, +1 (800) 808-9235, and we’ll follow up the next business morning. You can also reach us through our contact page. We reply within one business day. Our office is at 126 Willowdale Avenue, Suite 3, Toronto, and you can see who we are before the call.

Microsoft, Microsoft Advertising and Bing are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. We manage Microsoft Advertising accounts for our clients and have no affiliation with Microsoft Corporation.