To reduce dependence on Google Ads without abandoning search intent, map where your budget and results are concentrated, then run a capped test on a channel that can reach a comparable audience. For broad web searches, Microsoft Advertising is the clearest first candidate; for product discovery, Amazon Ads may fit a separate, narrower test. Neither is proven to replace Google reach or performance for every advertiser, so expand only if the test adds qualified business results at acceptable cost.
What diversification can—and cannot—do
Diversification is a way to reduce reliance on one platform, not a guarantee that another can absorb the same budget or deliver the same volume. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in its proposed decision published July 22, 2025, identified Microsoft as the strongest alternative to Google among traditional general-search providers, while emphasizing that the constraint was limited, particularly because Microsoft is smaller. The CMA’s assessment concerns the UK market and evidence from contacted advertisers and agencies; it is not an account-level forecast.
The distinction that matters is whether a channel is a direct search substitute or a complement. Search, marketplace ads, display and social can all contribute to a marketing plan, but they do not necessarily reach people with the same intent. The CMA described specialized search providers overall as a limited alternative to Google search advertising, while finding Amazon potentially more effective for shopping ads than specialized providers are in general search. It also found display and social were not effective alternatives to Google search ads, and that respondents generally viewed search and display as complementary.
Which channels are worth testing?
| Channel | Audience and intent | Best-fit use | What the evidence supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Advertising Search | People searching on Bing and, depending on settings and market, partner sites. | A first test for advertisers seeking broad web-search demand similar in kind to Google Search. | The CMA called Microsoft the best alternative among traditional general-search providers but said its constraint was limited. Microsoft documents campaign creation, daily budgets, bids and Google campaign import. These facts establish a route to test, not equivalent reach or better performance. |
| Amazon Ads | Shoppers searching or discovering products in an ecommerce marketplace. | A separate test for retailers whose customers use Amazon for product discovery and whose objective is product-related. | The CMA considered Amazon likely to be a more effective alternative in shopping ads than specialized providers are in general search, but characterized specialized search overall as limited and sector-specific. This does not establish Amazon as a substitute for general web search across categories. |
| Display and social advertising | People reached through placements or social contexts; intent may differ from an active search. | Objectives such as awareness or other complementary marketing goals, measured on their own terms. | The CMA did not find these effective alternatives to Google search advertising. Treating their spend as a direct replacement requires account-specific evidence that they deliver comparable intent and outcomes. |
Microsoft’s product descriptions are first-party vendor material. Its available properties, partner inventory and delivery can vary by market and campaign settings, so assess actual eligible reach and placements in your account rather than assuming a partner list or headline audience figure guarantees delivery.
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How to plan a controlled diversification test
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Map your current concentration
Break Google Ads spend, conversions, conversion value and customer acquisition down by campaign and objective. Identify campaigns most dependent on a single query type, product category, geography or placement. This helps distinguish a genuine platform concentration risk from a campaign that is simply important because it is currently profitable.
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Choose a comparable audience and objective
For general search demand, begin with a Microsoft Search test. If you sell products and Amazon is a relevant place for customers to discover them, define a separate Amazon Ads test around product-related outcomes. Keep social or display budgets in distinct objective categories unless your own results show they meet the same need as search.
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Set the pilot boundaries before launch
Write down the campaign scope, target geography, budget cap, conversion definition and date when you will decide whether to continue. Microsoft documents daily budgets, but its API guidance says a budget is a target and actual spend can be higher or lower. Confirm the current controls in the platform and monitor spend during the test rather than treating a daily target as a guaranteed hard cap.
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Import cautiously or rebuild deliberately
Microsoft supports importing Google campaigns, which can reduce setup work. Treat an import as a starting point, not proof of optimization for another network. Review bids, budgets, match types, targeting, exclusions, ad copy, landing pages, tracking, conversion goals and distribution settings before enabling delivery. Check where ads actually appeared after launch.
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Validate tracking before using automated bidding
Test the tags and conversion goals, then reconcile platform reporting with your business’s source of truth. Microsoft’s guidance says Maximize Conversions and Target CPA require conversion tracking and a conversion goal; its documentation also states that optimization stops if a campaign falls below 30 conversions over any 30-day period. That is platform guidance, not a universal statistical standard. If your test cannot meet the stated prerequisites, do not assume an automated strategy will optimize as intended.
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Compare business outcomes, then decide
Use a consistent conversion definition where possible and consider qualified conversions, revenue or conversion value, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, search-term quality, placement quality and operational effort. Compare incremental value after accounting for attribution differences, overlap with existing campaigns, time needed for learning and the work required to manage another platform. Platform-reported ROAS alone may not reflect contribution margin or incremental sales.
How to compare performance across platforms
Microsoft’s reporting documentation describes metrics including conversions, conversion value, CPA, ROAS, spend, clicks, impressions, landing-page performance, search-term insights and placement reporting where available. Use the metrics that answer your pilot’s pre-defined business question, and record the reporting window and conversion settings so the comparison is interpretable.
- Incremental demand: Did the test add qualified conversions or sales, or mostly capture people who would have converted through another channel?
- Economics: Is acquisition cost acceptable against contribution margin or the value of the customer, not just a platform-attributed revenue figure?
- Traffic quality: Do search terms, placements and landing-page behavior align with the intended audience?
- Measurement consistency: Are conversion definitions and values comparable, and can offline outcomes be included where relevant?
- Operating cost: Does the incremental result justify the time spent on campaign management, reporting and optimization?
Microsoft says offline conversions are supported for its conversion-tracking setup. If your sales cycle closes outside the website, include those outcomes when you can measure them consistently; otherwise, a platform comparison may favor a channel simply because it records more immediate online actions.
Account for Google Ads changes separately
Diversifying spend does not replace the need to manage Google’s own campaign changes. In a Google Ads Blog update published June 11, 2026, Google said Dynamic Search Ads sunset and auto-upgrade would begin in February 2027. The same update said auto-upgrades for campaigns using automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match continue starting in September 2026. Check your account’s notices and campaign settings for the applicable timing rather than assuming all accounts transition identically.
Google also reported that AI Max’s full feature suite produced an average 7% more conversions or conversion value at similar CPA or ROAS than search-term matching alone, based on Google internal data for non-retail advertisers in 2026. That is a vendor-reported result, not an independent benchmark or a promise of improvement for a particular account. Consider any relevant Google migration or feature decision on its own merits; it does not establish that concentrating more spend on Google is safer, or that a new channel will perform better.
When to expand, revise or stop the pilot
- Expand gradually if the channel adds qualified conversions or revenue at acceptable economics and the measurement is credible. Increase scope in controlled increments while checking whether performance holds.
- Revise the test if traffic is relevant but tracking, targeting, landing pages or campaign settings make results difficult to interpret. Change a limited number of variables so the next result can be understood.
- Stop or keep it small if the channel cannot reach enough of the intended audience, results do not meet the business threshold, or management effort outweighs incremental value.
The right allocation is account-specific: the CMA’s market assessment can help prioritize what to test, while only a controlled pilot can show whether a channel adds value for your audience, geography and economics.
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