Bing Ads vs Google Ads: Is Bing Worth It in South Africa?
Bing's South African share is small, so volume is the constraint rather than cost. Where it genuinely works, why B2B is the exception, and how to test it in an hour.
Whether Microsoft Advertising is worth running alongside Google Ads for a South African business.
TL;DR: Quick Answer
Bing's South African share is small, so volume is the constraint rather than cost. Where it genuinely works, why B2B is the exception, and how to test it in an hour.
Key takeaways
- Very cheap quotes (under R5,000) almost always exclude copywriting, SEO, custom design and post-launch support
- Professional copywriting can represent 20-35% of a total website project cost, and is worth it for search visibility
- On-page SEO built into the website at launch costs a fraction of what it costs to retrofit after the site is live
- Hosting, SSL, domain and maintenance add R3,000-R10,000 per year on top of build cost
- E-commerce adds significant cost due to payment gateway integrations, product data, security requirements and checkout UX
- Timeline and client responsiveness directly affect cost: slow feedback rounds extend agency hours
For most South African businesses, no. Not because it performs badly, but because there is not enough of it. Bing's South African search share is small single digits, so even an excellent cost per lead produces too few leads to matter.
There is one clear exception, and it is worth knowing about.
The exception: B2B
Microsoft Edge ships as the default browser on Windows, and in managed corporate environments IT departments frequently leave it that way with Bing as the search engine.
That means a meaningful share of Bing's South African usage happens on corporate and government desktops, during working hours, by people at work.
If you sell to businesses, to government, or to anyone likely to be researching from an office machine they do not administer themselves, that audience is disproportionately reachable on Bing and disproportionately ignored by your competitors.
The comparison
| Google Ads | Microsoft Advertising | |
|---|---|---|
| SA search share | Dominant | Small single digits |
| Cost per click | Higher | Often much lower |
| Available volume | High | Low |
| Audience skew | Everyone | Desktop, corporate, older |
| Setup effort | Full build | Import from Google |
| Worth testing | Always | B2B, or at Google's ceiling |
Why cheaper clicks do not settle it
Bing clicks are frequently a fraction of Google's for the same terms, because fewer advertisers compete.
But cost per click is not the constraint here, volume is. A campaign producing five leads a month at half the cost of Google's is still five leads. For a business needing forty, it is not a solution, it is a rounding error with good unit economics.
So the question is not "is Bing cheaper" but "is there enough of it in my category to be worth the management attention".
How to test it properly
The test is cheap, which is the best argument for running it.
Microsoft Advertising can import your Google Ads campaigns directly, carrying across keywords, ads, budgets and settings. Setup is about an hour.
Then run it for 60 to 90 days at a modest budget and look at two numbers: total leads, and cost per lead. If it produces meaningful volume at an acceptable cost, keep it. If it produces three leads a quarter, close it and stop thinking about it.
One caution on the import: review the imported campaigns rather than trusting them. Settings do not always translate exactly, and an imported campaign can end up broader than the original.
Who should not bother
Local consumer services, trades, restaurants and retail. The audience is on Google and on their phones, which is precisely where Bing is weakest.
Also anyone whose Google account is not yet performing. Fixing the channel with the volume beats adding a second channel with less, and a business spending management attention on Bing while its Google account leaks money has its priorities inverted.
The related reason to care about Bing anyway
Even if you never advertise there, Bing's index feeds several AI search products. Being crawlable and well-structured for Bing has value for AI visibility that is separate from advertising, and it costs nothing but a Bing Webmaster Tools verification.
Juicy Designs will tell you when a second ad platform is not worth your attention. See Google Ads management and AI search visibility. Related: optimising for Bing and Copilot.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bing Ads worth running in South Africa?
For most South African businesses, no, because Bing's local search share is small. It is worth testing for B2B, where Bing is the default browser search on many corporate desktops, and where cost per click is often noticeably lower.
What share does Bing have in South Africa?
A small single-digit share of search, well behind Google. That makes total volume low, so even a good cost per lead may not produce enough leads to matter.
Why is Bing cheaper?
Fewer advertisers compete for the same searches, so auction prices are lower. Cost per click is frequently a fraction of Google's for the same terms.
Who should test Microsoft Advertising?
B2B businesses selling to corporates and government, where Edge and Bing are often the managed default, and anyone already at their ceiling on Google who wants incremental volume.
How hard is it to set up?
Straightforward. Microsoft Advertising can import your Google Ads campaigns directly, so testing it costs an hour of setup plus whatever budget you allocate.