Microsoft / Bing Ads
The paid channel almost nobody in your market is using — which is exactly why it works. Cheaper clicks, older and wealthier audience, and if you've already done Course 06, setup takes under an hour.
- Understand why Bing's audience is particularly well-suited to travel agents
- Create a Microsoft Advertising account and import your Google Ads campaign in under an hour
- Adjust bids to reflect Bing's lower costs and set up conversion tracking
- Keep both platforms in sync with a simple monthly update process
Your competitors aren't here — which means you can be
Bing powers Microsoft's search engine and also appears in Windows, Cortana, and Microsoft Edge. In the UK, it handles roughly 6–8% of all searches — a fraction of Google's volume, but that still represents tens of millions of searches per month. And because almost nobody in the travel sector advertises on Bing, competition for keywords is dramatically lower.
Lower competition means lower cost per click — typically 20–40% cheaper than equivalent keywords on Google. And Bing's user demographic skews older: the 45–70 age group makes up a disproportionate share of Bing users, simply because they're more likely to be using Windows computers with Bing as the default search engine.
That 45–70 demographic happens to include many of the most valuable travel clients — people with the budget and the inclination to book quality holidays through an agent rather than an OTA. The audience fit is remarkably good, and almost nobody in your market is capitalising on it.
The best part: if you completed Course 06, you've already done 90% of the work. Microsoft Advertising lets you import your entire Google Ads campaign directly — keywords, ad copy, match types, negatives — in about 10 minutes. The remaining setup takes another 45 minutes at most.
| Factor | Google Ads | Microsoft / Bing Ads |
|---|---|---|
| UK search market share | ~92% | ~6–8% |
| Average cost per click | Higher — more competition | 20–40% cheaper on average |
| Key demographic | Broad, all ages | 45–70, higher income |
| Competition level | Very high | Low — most advertisers skip it |
| Setup time (after Course 06) | Already done | Under 1 hour — import from Google |
Less volume — but cheaper clicks and a better-matched audience
Bing won't replace Google as your primary search channel. But at £30–£50/month running alongside Google, it adds 10–20% more enquiries for a fraction of the additional cost. Think of it as a quiet, efficient extra channel that your competitors have ignored — and you haven't.
What you need
- A Google Ads account with at least one live Search campaign (Course 06 must be complete)
- A Microsoft account — a Hotmail, Outlook, or Microsoft 365 email address. Free to create at microsoft.com if you don't have one
- A credit or debit card for billing
- Access to your Travelgenix website — you'll add the UET tag for conversion tracking
You've already done the hard part
Every keyword you researched, every negative keyword you added, every ad you wrote in Course 06 can be imported directly into Microsoft Advertising. You don't need to rebuild anything. This is genuinely one of the quickest paid setups available — and it gets easier every time you update your Google Ads because you simply re-import.
Setting up Microsoft Advertising in under an hour
Create your Microsoft Advertising account
Go to ads.microsoft.com and click "Sign up now." Sign in with your Microsoft account. Enter your business name, time zone (GMT), and currency (GBP).
When prompted to create your first campaign immediately, skip past this step — you'll import from Google Ads instead, which is faster and more accurate.
Set up billing and add a monthly spending limit
Go to Tools → Billing → Payment Methods. Add your card details. Then navigate to Tools → Accounts → Account Budget and set a monthly spending limit equal to your Bing budget (£30–£50).
As with Google Ads, this monthly cap is your safety net. Microsoft will not charge you more than this in any calendar month regardless of what happens with campaign settings.
Import your Google Ads campaign — the magic step
This is what makes Bing setup so fast. In the top navigation, click Import → Import from Google Ads. Sign in to your Google account when prompted. Select the campaign(s) you want to import and click "Import now."
Microsoft will replicate your keywords (with match types), ad copy, negative keywords, bid amounts, location settings, and ad extensions. This takes approximately 5–10 minutes and saves you rebuilding everything from scratch.
Review the import and reduce your bids by 20–30%
After importing, your bids will be identical to your Google Ads bids. Because clicks on Bing are cheaper, you don't need to bid as high to achieve similar ad positions. Reduce your maximum CPC bids across all keywords by 20–30%.
For example: if your Google Ads bids are set to £1.50 per click, set your Bing bids to £1.00–£1.20. You'll typically achieve similar or better ad positions at the lower cost.
Check location and network settings
In each campaign's settings, confirm:
- Location: United Kingdom — Presence only (not Presence or Interest)
- Network: Bing, AOL and Yahoo Search — untick "Bing search partners" if you want maximum control, or leave it on for slightly more volume
- Language: English
These settings may have carried over from the import, but always verify — incorrect location targeting is one of the most common ways to waste budget on Bing.
Set up the UET Tag for conversion tracking
Microsoft's equivalent of Google's conversion tag is called a Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag. Go to Tools → UET Tags → Create UET Tag. Name it "[Your Business] UET" and click Save. You'll receive a small JavaScript snippet.
Email this to your Travelgenix team alongside the instruction: "Please add this UET tag to the header of my website — it needs to appear on every page, alongside the Google Tag."
Go live and set a monthly sync reminder
Enable your campaigns and click Save. Your Bing ads are now live. They'll start appearing in Bing search results within a few hours.
Set a monthly calendar reminder to do two things:
- Review Search Terms: go to Reports → Search Terms. Add any irrelevant searches as negative keywords — just as you do in Google Ads, but Bing will have slightly different irrelevant searches to catch
- Sync with Google Ads: whenever you update or improve your Google Ads campaign, re-import to Bing: Import → Import from Google Ads → "Update existing campaigns." This keeps both platforms in sync automatically
The complete paid search picture
With Courses 06, 07, 08, and 09 all running, you now have: Google Search capturing high-intent UK searchers → Google Remarketing recovering lost visitors across the web → Meta Retargeting catching them on Facebook and Instagram → Bing Ads capturing the same intent on Microsoft's network for 20–40% less. Combined monthly budget: approximately £200–£290. This is a genuinely comprehensive paid traffic strategy that most small travel businesses have never even attempted.
Travelgenix tip
When you ask your Travelgenix team to install the Microsoft UET tag, ask them to add it at the same time as any other tracking codes still outstanding — Google Tag, Meta Pixel, and UET tag can all be added in a single session. Batching these installation requests saves time and ensures everything goes live together.
For more experienced marketers
Layer LinkedIn profile targeting on top of your search campaigns
Microsoft Advertising has a unique feature no other search platform offers: you can layer LinkedIn profile data on top of your keyword targeting. This means you can show your travel ads specifically to people matching certain job titles, industries, or company sizes — while they're actively searching for holidays on Bing. For a travel agent interested in corporate travel, group bookings, or incentive trips, targeting "HR Manager" or "PA/EA" job titles on top of relevant search terms is extraordinarily precise. Find this under Campaign Settings → LinkedIn Profile Targeting. Note that this is a bid modifier (you pay slightly more to reach that audience) rather than an exclusive targeting method.
Use Bing's search term data to improve your Google Ads
Because Bing and Google serve partially different search queries — different phrasing, different user habits — Bing's Search Terms report often surfaces irrelevant keywords and new keyword ideas that don't appear in Google's data. Mining both reports together gives you a more complete picture of how real people search for what you offer. Add any new relevant terms as keywords in both platforms, and any irrelevant terms as negatives in both. Two search term reports are always better than one.
Target the Windows and Edge audience explicitly
In Microsoft Advertising's ad scheduling and device targeting settings, you can bid higher for searches coming from Windows computers and Microsoft Edge browsers — the environments where Bing is most dominant and where the 45–70 demographic is most concentrated. Increase your device bid adjustments for desktop by 20–30% if desktop-based enquiries are where your conversions are strongest. Check your device performance data in Google Ads first to understand whether desktop or mobile converts better for your business — then apply that insight to Bing.
Common Bing Ads mistakes
- Expecting the same volume as Google — Bing has 6–8% of Google's UK search volume. That's intentional and fine at this budget level; you're paying much less per click
- Not re-importing from Google after updates — your two platforms will drift out of sync over time if you only update one
- Forgetting to check Bing's Search Terms report separately — the irrelevant searches on Bing are subtly different from Google's and need their own negative keyword additions
- Not reducing bids after import — carrying over Google bid levels means overpaying on a platform where clicks are inherently cheaper
Your monthly 15-minute Bing review
- Check Search Terms report — add any irrelevant searches as negatives (these differ from Google's)
- Check impressions, clicks, CTR, and average CPC — Bing volume will be lower than Google, which is expected
- If you've made improvements to your Google Ads this month: Import → Import from Google Ads → Update existing campaigns
- Check total monthly spend against your budget limit
- Pause any keywords that have spent their fair share with zero conversions
What to expect and when
| When | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Days 1–3 | Ads approved and live. First impressions on Bing search results. Lower volume than Google — this is completely normal. |
| Week 2–4 | First clicks and enquiries. Bing's Search Terms will show some different irrelevant searches — add them as negatives. CPC should be noticeably lower than Google. |
| Month 1–2 | Campaign optimising. Combined with Google, you now have paid search coverage across both major UK search platforms. Bing typically adds 10–20% on top of Google's enquiry volume. |
| Month 3+ | Reliable background enquiry source at low cost per click. Monthly sync with Google Ads keeps everything in step with minimal extra effort. |
| Ongoing | The lowest-maintenance paid channel in your stack. Minimal management required. Quietly adds value every month while your competitors ignore it. |
Lesson completion checklist
📄 Download the Course 09 Workbook
Setup checklist, import guide, bid adjustment reference, and monthly sync tracker.
🎉 You've completed Get Found Online
Nine courses. Nine channels. A complete traffic strategy built from the ground up.
"Running a travel business can be complex — but your marketing doesn't have to be. You now have everything you need to be found, chosen, and remembered."