Insights · From the dealer accounts

# Car Dealers Are Overpaying for Search Clicks

Across 11 dealerships that ran search on both platforms for a year, the same kind of click cost 46% less on Microsoft than on Google, and it was cheaper at every single store.

By [Alex Melen](https://www.alexmelen.com/about/), co-founder of SmartSites · Oct 27, 2026 · 500 words

[Book the dealer talk](https://www.alexmelen.com/speaking/#automotive)

On this page
- [Same searches, very different prices](#same-searches-very-different-prices)
- [Used cars are where the gap is widest](#used-cars-are-where-the-gap-is-widest)
- [What I tell dealers now](#what-i-tell-dealers-now)

Key numbers
- 11 dealerships SmartSites manages that ran search on both platforms; Oct 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2026; search vs. search only (no VLAs, Performance Max, feed or display)
- Average cost per click: $2.07 on Microsoft vs. $3.85 on Google (46% lower)
- Cheaper at 11 of 11 stores (median dealer saved 52% per click) and in 79 of 82 dealer-months
- Biggest gap: used/CPO searches, $1.55 vs. $4.82 (–68%)
- Microsoft took 11% of search spend and delivered 19% of search clicks; 56% of its clicks came from desktop vs. 17% on Google

More articles
- [Microsoft Search Clicks Cost About Half as Much as Google's](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/microsoft-ads-vs-google-ads-cpc/)
- [What We Learned Building 1,635 Model Pages for 43 Dealerships](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/seo-2-0-dealer-model-pages/)
- [What AI Search Did for One Ford Dealer in 2026](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/ai-search-ford-dealer/)
- [The Question Every Dealer Asks Me About Connected TV](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/connected-tv-car-dealers/)

Explainers
- [What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/what-is-generative-engine-optimization/)
- [AEO vs GEO vs SEO: what's the difference?](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/aeo-vs-geo-vs-seo/)
- [How do ChatGPT ads work?](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/how-chatgpt-ads-work/)
- [How do you measure AI search visibility?](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/how-to-measure-ai-search-visibility/)

When I look at a dealer’s paid search budget, nearly every dollar is usually on Google. Ask about Microsoft Ads and you get some version of “nobody uses Bing.”

I wanted a better answer than that, so we pulled a year of data from 11 of our dealerships that ran search on both platforms. We kept it strictly search versus search: no VLAs, no Performance Max, no feed or display campaigns on either side, so the comparison is fair.

## Same searches, very different prices

Spend-weighted cost per click by quarter, search campaigns only. Source: Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.

- The average search click cost **$2.07 on Microsoft and $3.85 on Google**, 46% less.
- Microsoft was cheaper at **all 11 stores**. The median dealer saved 52% per click.
- It was cheaper in 79 of 82 dealer-months, and in every quarter by 31% to 61%.
- Microsoft took 11% of these dealers’ search spend and delivered 19% of their search clicks.

Luxury stores weren’t the exception, either: they paid 43% less per click on Microsoft, and mainstream stores paid 51% less.

## Used cars are where the gap is widest

Cost per click by campaign intent, pooled across dealers. Service/parts is the smallest sample (4 dealers).

Used and CPO searches cost **$1.55 a click on Microsoft vs. $4.82 on Google**, a 68% gap. Service and parts was close behind at 62%, though only four stores ran it on both. New-model searches had the smallest gap, and Microsoft was still 39% cheaper.

The reason is simple: fewer dealers bid on Microsoft, so the auction is less crowded. The audience is different too. More than half of Microsoft’s dealer clicks came from desktop (56%, vs. 17% on Google): people researching at work or at home, on Bing, Edge and Windows defaults. Bing also powers Copilot.

The full write-up, with tables and methodology, is [on the SmartSites blog](https://www.smartsites.com/blog/what-11-car-dealers-taught-us-about-microsoft-ads/).

## What I tell dealers now

To be straight about the limits: this is 11 stores one agency manages, mostly in the Northeast, not an industry benchmark. Lower competition is a big part of the price gap, so it may narrow as a dealer scales spend. And because Microsoft Ads doesn’t plug into GA4 the way Google Ads does, most dealers don’t track Microsoft leads the same way. Assuming a search lead converts at a similar rate on either platform, a 46% cheaper click means roughly 40–50% cheaper leads on the same keywords. That’s an assumption, so measure it yourself.

Microsoft won’t replace Google; Google still carries most of the volume. But it’s the cheapest additional search reach most dealers aren’t buying:

- **Import your Google Search campaigns** and start with used/CPO and service.
- **Track calls and forms with Microsoft’s UET tag from day one,** so you judge it on cost per lead.
- **Run on Microsoft sites and select traffic,** not the full partner network.
- **Test for 90 days at 10–20% of your Google Search budget,** then scale on cost per lead. To grow volume, raise bids: our campaigns lost about 38% of eligible impressions to ad rank and only about 1% to budget.

Full disclosure: SmartSites is a Microsoft Advertising partner. If you want to see what Microsoft Ads could do for your store, [reach out](https://www.alexmelen.com/contact/). I’m always happy to look at the numbers with you.

— Alex

Go deeper

- [Topic hub: Automotive dealer marketing](https://www.alexmelen.com/topics/automotive/)
- [Book: Automotive Search Marketing, Second Edition](https://www.alexmelen.com/book/)
- [Article: The Question Every Dealer Asks Me About Connected TV](https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/connected-tv-car-dealers/)
- [Research: first-party data from SmartSites' client base](https://www.alexmelen.com/research/)

Written by Alex Melen from SmartSites' own dealer accounts. Published Oct 27, 2026. Quotations with attribution and a link are welcome.

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Source: https://www.alexmelen.com/insights/microsoft-ads-car-dealers/ · Markdown version of this page for AI agents and LLMs. Site guide: https://www.alexmelen.com/llms.txt