Bing ads for B2B: why the work-desktop audience matters
Why Bing ads suit B2B: a work-desktop audience, office-hours search, company and job function targeting, and a practical strategy to run them alongside Google.
Bing ads work for B2B because the people searching on Bing are often at work. Many company computers run Windows with Edge and Bing as defaults, so searches lean toward office hours and job tasks. Add Microsoft's company and job function targeting, and Bing becomes a precise channel for reaching buying committees.
The work-desktop audience
Consumer search has moved to phones. B2B research mostly has not. Comparing vendors, reading pricing pages, checking integrations and sharing links with colleagues still happens on a laptop, during the working day.
That is where Bing shows up. Many corporate machines come with Windows, Edge and Bing set as defaults, and IT policies often leave them that way. The result is a search audience that is smaller than Google's but skews toward:
- Desktop devices, where longer B2B pages and forms work better.
- Weekday, office-hour searches, when people are doing their jobs.
- Work-related queries, because the same browser is used for work email, documents and internal tools.
None of this means everyone on Bing is a buyer. It means the share of searches that come from people at work is meaningful, and those are the people a B2B advertiser wants.
Bing vs Google for B2B
| Bing (Microsoft Ads) | Google Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Search volume | Smaller | Much larger |
| Typical device mix | Leans desktop and work devices | Broad mix, heavy on mobile |
| Target companies by name | Yes, with profile targeting | No |
| Target by job function and industry | Yes | No direct equivalent; uses custom segments and in-market audiences |
| Competition in most B2B auctions | Usually lower | Usually higher |
| Ads in AI answers | Copilot and AI search placements | AI Overviews and AI Mode placements |
| Campaign import | Can import from Google Ads | n/a |
The honest summary: Google has the volume, Bing has the account precision. Most B2B teams should not choose one. They should run Google for reach and Bing for control. Our Google Ads page explains what Google can and cannot do for account targeting.
Why company targeting changes the maths
On Google, a search for a category term from a student, a job seeker and a VP of Finance at a target account all enter the same auction at the same bid. You can refine with audiences, but you can't tell Google to bid more because the searcher works at a specific company.
On Bing you can. Microsoft's profile targeting lets you add bid adjustments for:
- Companies on your target account list.
- Industries that match your ideal customer profile.
- Job functions that sit on the buying committee, such as finance, IT, operations or engineering.
This means you can keep a broad keyword set and still pay most for the clicks that matter. It also means the same budget goes further on accounts you actually want to win. The full mechanics are in our Microsoft Ads for B2B guide.
A Bing ads strategy for B2B
1. Split campaigns by intent, not by product
Build three groups of campaigns:
- Problem searches: queries about the pain your product solves.
- Category and comparison searches: "best X software", "X vs Y", "X alternatives".
- Brand searches: your name and product names, to protect them.
Each group gets its own budget, because brand will always look cheapest and will starve the others if they share a pot.
2. Layer profile targeting on top
Add company bid adjustments for your tier 1 and tier 2 accounts, and job function adjustments for the roles that buy. Keep these as bid adjustments on search, so non-target searchers can still see your ads at a normal bid.
3. Schedule for the working week
Look at your conversion data by hour and day. In many B2B accounts, weekday office hours convert better. If yours do, use ad scheduling to bid up then and down at night and on weekends rather than switching ads off completely.
4. Write ads for the role, not the company
Someone in finance and someone in IT search for different reasons, even when they work at the same account. Use separate ad groups and copy for the main functions. Mention the outcome each role cares about: cost and risk for finance, integration and security for IT.
5. Add audience campaigns for target accounts
Search only reaches people who are already looking. Audience campaigns on Microsoft's network let you show ads to target companies and job functions before they search. See our ABM display ads playbook for how to run these.
6. Measure by account
Clicks and leads are not enough in B2B. Microsoft reporting can break down performance by company and job function. Join that with website visits from the same companies, and you can see which accounts are warming up even before anyone fills in a form.
Common objections
"The volume is too small." It is smaller than Google. But in B2B you rarely need volume, you need the right accounts. A small number of clicks from target companies is worth more than many clicks from the wrong ones.
"We just copy our Google campaigns." Importing is a good start, but it ignores the main advantage. Without profile targeting, a Bing campaign is just a smaller Google campaign.
"Our buyers don't use Bing." Some of them do, whether they chose it or their IT team did. You can test this cheaply with brand and category campaigns before committing more budget.
Bing, Copilot and AI answers
Microsoft now shows ads inside Copilot and AI-assisted search results. For B2B, this matters because buyers increasingly ask AI tools to shortlist vendors. Ads in these placements generally draw on your search campaigns, so the same keyword structure and copy carry over. For a wider view of advertising inside AI answers, read LLM ads for B2B.
How IntentBid runs Bing ads
IntentBid connects to your own Microsoft Advertising account, with no media markup. It builds your target account list, sets up search and audience campaigns with company, industry and job function targeting, and creates everything paused with compliance checks so you approve before anything spends. Reporting shows impressions per company next to visits from the same companies on your website. More on the Bing B2B ads page.
FAQ
Are Bing ads the same as Microsoft Ads?
Yes. Bing Ads was renamed Microsoft Advertising. Ads still appear on Bing search, plus Microsoft's other properties and partner sites.
Is Bing cheaper than Google for B2B?
Often, because fewer advertisers compete in many B2B auctions. But it varies by industry and keyword. Profile-targeted clicks also cost more than untargeted ones, because you are bidding up for precision.
Can I target a specific company on Bing?
Yes. Microsoft's profile targeting includes company, industry and job function. You choose them in Microsoft Ads; you never upload contact data.
Should I run Bing ads on weekends?
Test it. Many B2B accounts see better results on weekdays, but some industries work differently. Use bid adjustments by day rather than turning ads off without data.
How long before I can judge results?
Give search campaigns a few weeks to collect search terms and conversions. Judge audience campaigns on account reach and later site visits, which take longer to show up than clicks.
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