Google wins on volume and coverage; Microsoft wins on CPC efficiency, older-demographic reach and less-crowded auctions. Most mature UK advisers run both, with Microsoft taking 10-20% of paid-search budget.
Microsoft Ads vs Google Ads for UK Financial Services
**Google Ads** dominates UK search, with roughly 92% market share. It is where you go for volume, breadth of keyword coverage and the deepest audience signals.
**Microsoft Ads** covers Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Edge and Outlook - roughly 7-8% of UK search. Its users skew: - Older (55% over 35, vs 48% on Google) - Higher household income (Bing skews AB/C1) - More desktop-heavy (Edge and Office defaults)
For regulated financial firms this means Microsoft is often **more efficient per lead** on pension consolidation, IHT planning, equity release and retirement annuities - the exact niches where buyer age correlates with AUM.