Bing Ads for Painters: Worth Running After Google Ads?
Bing Ads for painters: what Microsoft Ads costs, how much extra volume it adds, and why it only makes sense after Google Ads is profitable.
Published July 30, 2026 · PaintingPPC
Bing Ads for painters, now officially called Microsoft Advertising, is a legitimate second search channel that typically adds a small slice of extra estimate calls at a lower cost per click than Google. It is not a replacement for Google Ads, and it should never get the first dollar, because the search volume is a fraction of Google’s. The right sequence for a painting contractor is Google Ads first, get it profitable, then import the working campaign into Microsoft Ads and let it pick up the searchers Google never shows you.
I run Google Ads for painting contractors at PaintingPPC, and painters ask me about Bing more than you would guess. Usually it starts with “my buddy says the clicks are cheaper over there.” He is right about the clicks. Here is the full picture.
What are Bing Ads and who actually searches on Bing?
Microsoft Advertising puts your ad in search results on Bing, plus Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, AOL, and the search box built into Windows and Microsoft Edge. That last part matters more than people think. Every new Windows computer ships with Edge as the default browser and Bing as the default search engine, and a lot of homeowners never change it. They type “house painters near me” into the box that came with the computer, and Google never sees that search.
That default-browser effect is why Bing’s numbers are stronger than its reputation. Per Backlinko’s roundup of Statcounter data, Bing holds roughly 10 percent of US search traffic overall, and closer to 17 to 18 percent on desktop, where the Windows default does its quiet work. The audience also skews older and higher income than the average Google searcher. For a painter, that profile is not a bug. Older homeowners on desktop computers are exactly the people who own homes, hire out the work instead of doing it themselves, and pay for whole-exterior repaints and cabinet refinishing.
The mechanics are nearly identical to Google: keyword bidding, match types, negative keywords, responsive search ads, location targeting. If you understand how a Google Search campaign works, you already understand Microsoft Ads.
How much do Bing Ads cost for painting contractors?
Clicks on Microsoft Ads generally run 30 to 40 percent cheaper than the same keywords on Google. Searchlab’s 2026 Microsoft Ads statistics put the network-wide average around $1.37 per click versus $2.06 on Google Search, and their home services benchmark shows cost per action landing near $22, well under what the same category pays on Google.
Painting terms cost more than those network averages on both platforms. On Google, LocaliQ’s home services benchmarks put painting at $13.74 average cost per click, the highest home services category they track. I have not seen a painting-specific published benchmark for Microsoft Ads, so treat this as a modeled estimate: if the platform-wide discount holds, painting clicks on Bing land somewhere in the $7 to $10 range. Cheaper, but not free, and the same budget math applies. A click is only worth what the booked job behind it is worth.
The catch is volume. Cheaper clicks do not help if there are not many of them. In a mid-sized metro, a Microsoft Ads campaign for a painter might spend a few hundred dollars a month before it simply runs out of searches to show for. That is the whole reason Bing is a second channel and not a first one.
Are Bing Ads worth it for painters?
Yes, but only in one specific situation: your Google Ads account is already profitable, already fully funded, and you want incremental volume without raising your Google bids. Here is the honest side by side:
| Factor | Google Ads | Microsoft Ads (Bing) |
|---|---|---|
| Share of US searches | Roughly 80 to 90 percent | Roughly 10 percent, higher on desktop |
| Painting click cost | Around $13 to $50 | Modeled $7 to $10, no painting-specific benchmark |
| Search volume for a painter | The main market | Roughly 5 to 15 percent extra |
| Audience skew | Everyone | Older, desktop, higher income |
| Setup effort | Full build | Under an hour via Google import |
| Local Services Ads | Yes | No equivalent for painters |
Read that table as a whole and the sequencing writes itself. Google is where the market is. Bing is a discount rack bolted onto the side of the store. If your Google campaign is limited by budget, meaning you cannot yet afford all the Google clicks available in your market, fix that first. Moving money to Bing while leaving profitable Google volume unbought is trading dollar bills for quarters.
But if Google is maxed out in your market and your cost per booked job is where it needs to be, Microsoft Ads is the cheapest expansion available. Right now, in late July, that situation is common. Exterior demand peaks in summer, some painters are capped out on Google in their service area, and the Bing searchers are sitting there unclaimed because no other painter in town bothered.
How do you set up Microsoft Ads as a painter?
Do not build from scratch. Microsoft Ads has a built-in import tool that connects to your Google Ads account and copies over campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, and negative keyword lists, as covered in LSEO’s import walkthrough. If the Google campaign is built right, the Bing version inherits the structure, including the negative keywords that keep DIY and job-seeker traffic out.
Three things to check after import, because the copy is not perfect. First, bids: imported bids carry Google prices into a cheaper auction, so cut them 30 percent or so and let the data correct you. Second, location targeting: confirm the setting restricts ads to people physically in your service area, same as you would on Google. Third, tracking: your call tracking numbers and form conversions need to fire on Bing traffic too, or you will have a channel spending money with no way to know if it books jobs. An untracked channel is not cheap at any click price.
Then leave it alone. Volume is low, so data accumulates slowly. Judge it on 90 days, not 9 days, and judge it on the same metric as everything else: cost per booked job, not cost per click.
FAQ
Are Bing Ads cheaper than Google Ads for painters? Per click, yes. Published benchmarks show Microsoft Ads clicks running 30 to 40 percent cheaper than Google across industries, and home services cost per action landing near $22. There is no painting-specific published benchmark, so painters should expect a discount on Google’s roughly $13.74 average painting click, not clicks for pennies.
How much of my budget should go to Bing Ads? For most painting companies, 10 percent or less, and zero until Google Ads is profitable and fully funded. Bing typically adds around 5 to 15 percent extra search volume on top of a Google campaign. Funding Bing while profitable Google clicks go unbought costs you jobs.
Do Bing Ads work for local service businesses like painting companies? Yes, the mechanics are the same as Google: local keywords, geo targeting, call and form conversions. The audience skews older, desktop-based, and higher income, which fits repaint and cabinet refinishing customers well. The limit is volume, since Bing handles roughly a tenth of US searches.
Can I copy my Google Ads campaign into Microsoft Ads? Yes. Microsoft Ads has an import tool that pulls your campaigns, keywords, ads, and negatives directly from your Google account in under an hour. After importing, lower your bids for the cheaper auction, verify location settings, and confirm conversion tracking fires before spending real money.
The short version
Google Ads for painting contractors is the main event, and Microsoft Ads is a cheap encore for painters who have already won the main event. If your Google account is not profitable yet, Bing will not save it; the same problems import right along with the campaign. If it is profitable and capped, Bing is the easiest extra volume you will find this year.
If you want to know whether your market is at the point where a second search channel makes sense, book a call and we will look at the numbers together.