Whenever we would float the idea of advertising on it you’d hear things like “But it has limited reach”. Or “the audience isn’t right for my product”.
But a lot of those things are just myths and don’t hold up to any scrutiny.
So, because we love Microsoft Ads and there are so many many myths around them we thought we’d do a bit of mythbusting.
In this post we’ll present you with facts around:
- It’s market share
- Which demographics use it
- It’s range of features
- And its usability
6 Myths About Microsoft Ads
Myth 1 – Microsoft Ads market share is so small?
According to comScore data (source: link) for PC Users (June 2022) Microsoft Ads Global market share reached 18.3%, 14.7 billion monthly PC searches. In the UK alone, there was 24.3% PC market share, 626 million monthly PC searches. In the US there was 38.1% PC market share and 7.6 billion monthly PC searches.
TLDR- 38.1% US desktop users, 24.3% UK desktop users, 18.3% Global desktop users
Myth 2 – Nobody uses Microsoft
It’s not true. There are people who don’t use Google with Microsoft capturing over 24% of PC searches in the UK, plus there is a big number of unique Microsoft users, you don’t want to miss out:
- 653 million unique PC users globally
- 27 million unique PC users in the UK
- Microsoft Search Network connects with more than 200 million Windows 10 users
TLDR – There are 653 million Global unique users, 120 million US unique users, 27 million UK unique users
Myth 3 – Only older customers use Microsoft Edge browser
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Microsoft Search Network is that it’s mostly made up of an older audience. However, according to GlobalWebIndex (source: link), globally over 73% of users are under 45 (the data includes PC, tablet and mobile traffic). So that can’t be true can it.
Myth 4 – Microsoft Ads have limited features compared to Google Ads
5-10 years back Microsoft Ads platform (known as Bing Ads at the time) was a slow and unfriendly user experience.
That’s not the case anymore.
Now the interface looks pretty much similar to Google Ads, and they’re constantly mirroring features from their biggest competitors.
Nowadays we have options like Smart Bidding, RSA extensions and all those other useful things that you use on Google Ads as well as a few ones that are unique to Microsoft.
TLDR – Navigation and key Search features are very similar to Google Ads
Myth 5 – Requires lots of extra time and resource to set up and manage Search campaigns
You can now easily import from Google Ads (including audience definitions), Facebook Ads, Pinterest Ads and traditional file imports.
Also, you can schedule regular imports from Google Ads as well, if you need to get frequent account updates.
TLDR – Easy step-by-step import features
Myth 6 – Limited or no support from the platform
Whether you have a question about signing up, optimising keywords or are looking to improve your client’s campaign performance, Microsoft has a team of dedicated search specialists to help you:
- They can import your existing search advertising with the Google Import tool.
- View one dashboard for all your campaigns – link new client accounts to see all your clients at once.
- Call, email, or talk online with a dedicated Microsoft Advertising search specialist.
TLDR – All-day support at no cost
To Summarise
Microsoft Ads traditionally has never been advertisers first choice for a few reasons – a limited reach, old technology, not the right audience and few more.
But none of them hold up anymore.
It has a massive audience and the user interface and features are improving day by day. So if you’re not advertising on it you will be missing out on:
- 653 million unique PC users globally
- 27 million unique PC users in the UK
- Microsoft Search Network connects with more than 200 million Windows 10 users
And missing out on them means missing out on some serious £££’s.
