CPC, CPL, CTR and CVR ranges for Microsoft Advertising across UK regulated financial services niches. Typically 20-28% below Google Search CPC with older, higher-income audiences.
Microsoft Ads benchmarks for UK financial services are anonymised CPC, CPL and conversion ranges for Microsoft Advertising (Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Edge, MSN) across regulated advice niches.
| Niche | Platform | Metric | Low | High | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| annuities | cpl | £29 | £57 | — | |
| annuities | bing | cpl | £29 | £57 | — |
| annuities | cpl | £82 | £153 | — | |
| annuities | meta | cpl | £4.7 | £9.7 | — |
| equity release | cpl | £53 | £101 | — | |
| equity release | bing | cpl | £53 | £101 | — |
| equity release | cpl | £147 | £273 | — | |
| equity release | meta | cpl | £8.8 | £18.2 | — |
| pension consolidation | cpl | £34 | £65 | — | |
| pension consolidation | bing | cpl | £34 | £65 | — |
| pension consolidation | cpl | £94 | £175 | — | |
| pension consolidation | meta | cpl | £5.3 | £11.1 | — |
| pension transfer | cpl | £46 | £88 | — | |
| pension transfer | bing | cpl | £46 | £88 | — |
| pension transfer | cpl | £127 | £237 | — | |
| pension transfer | meta | cpl | £7.2 | £15 | — |
| remortgage | bing | cpl | £19.6 | £38 | — |
| remortgage | cpl | £19.6 | £38 | — | |
| remortgage | cpl | £69 | £127 | — | |
| remortgage | meta | cpl | £4 | £8 | — |
| retirement planning | cpc | £3.22 | £10.58 | — | |
| retirement planning | ctr | 2.55% | 7.65% | — | |
| retirement planning | cvr | 5.7% | 17.1% | — | |
| retirement planning | mql-rate | 45.6% | 71.3% | — | |
| retirement planning | cross-channel | cac-payback-months | 4 | 13 | 120 |
| retirement planning | cross-channel | mql-to-client-rate | 5% | 14% | 120 |
| retirement planning | cross-channel | speed-to-lead-minutes | 4 | 70 | 120 |
| retirement planning | open-rate | 26.6% | 45.6% | — | |
| retirement planning | youtube | view-rate | 17.1% | 32.3% | — |
| retirement planning | meta | cpc | £0.63 | £2.13 | — |
| retirement planning | meta | cpm | £4.83 | £14.49 | — |
| retirement planning | meta | ctr | 0.8% | 2.5% | — |
| retirement planning | meta | cvr | 2.85% | 11.4% | — |
| retirement planning | meta | mql-rate | 17.1% | 39.9% | — |
| retirement planning | bing | cpc | £2.19 | £7.82 | — |
| retirement planning | bing | ctr | 2.04% | 6.12% | — |
| retirement planning | bing | cvr | 4.75% | 14.25% | — |
| retirement planning | bing | mql-rate | 42.8% | 68.4% | — |
| retirement planning | cpc | £6.67 | £16.33 | — | |
| retirement planning | cpm | £20.7 | £55.2 | — | |
| retirement planning | ctr | 0.4% | 1.2% | — | |
| retirement planning | cvr | 3.8% | 9.5% | — | |
| retirement planning | mql-rate | 36.1% | 64.6% | — | |
| wealth management | cpc | £5.04 | £16.56 | — | |
| wealth management | ctr | 2.5% | 6% | — | |
| wealth management | cvr | 4.2% | 12.6% | — | |
| wealth management | mql-rate | 33.6% | 52.5% | — | |
| wealth management | cross-channel | cac-payback-months | 6 | 22 | 120 |
| wealth management | cross-channel | mql-to-client-rate | 3% | 10% | 120 |
| wealth management | cross-channel | speed-to-lead-minutes | 6 | 120 | 120 |
| wealth management | open-rate | 19.6% | 33.6% | — | |
| wealth management | youtube | view-rate | 12.6% | 23.8% | — |
| wealth management | meta | cpc | £0.99 | £3.33 | — |
| wealth management | meta | cpm | £7.56 | £22.68 | — |
| wealth management | meta | ctr | 0.8% | 2.5% | — |
| wealth management | meta | cvr | 2.1% | 8.4% | — |
| wealth management | meta | mql-rate | 12.6% | 29.4% | — |
| wealth management | bing | cpc | £3.42 | £12.24 | — |
| wealth management | bing | ctr | 2% | 5% | — |
| wealth management | bing | cvr | 3.5% | 10.5% | — |
| wealth management | bing | mql-rate | 31.5% | 50.4% | — |
| wealth management | cpc | £10.44 | £25.56 | — | |
| wealth management | cpm | £32.4 | £86.4 | — | |
| wealth management | ctr | 0.4% | 1.2% | — | |
| wealth management | cvr | 2.8% | 7% | — | |
| wealth management | mql-rate | 26.6% | 47.6% | — |
Microsoft Ads is the quiet winner in UK regulated advice paid-search. CPCs run 20-28% below Google for equivalent high-intent keywords (£1.9-£6.8 vs £2.8-£9.2), and the audience skews 45+ and higher-income. Volume is capped at ~8% of UK search, so it is always a complement to Google rather than a standalone starter channel.
Ranges are drawn from UK Microsoft Advertising agency aggregates and live Platinum Prospects-managed accounts over the trailing 12 months. CPCs and CPLs are shown at the 20th and 80th percentile; sample sizes reflect distinct UK ad accounts per niche.
Yes. On the same high-intent keywords Microsoft Ads typically runs 20-28% below Google on CPC and 15-22% below on CPL, because the auction is less competitive and not because traffic quality is lower. The constraint is volume - Microsoft holds ~8% of UK search.
Pension consolidation, IHT planning, equity release, annuities, retirement planning and remortgage. These niches have older buyer demographics that over-index on Edge, Outlook and Bing defaults.
No. Run both. Google remains the volume leader and audience-signal leader. Microsoft adds 10-20% of incremental paid-search volume at a materially lower blended CPL, especially on older-audience niches.