Why Your Bing Ads Have High CPC (Real Causes + Solutions)
- November 23, 2025
- 3:26 pm
If you’ve noticed your Bing Ads campaigns draining your budget faster than expected, you’re likely struggling with high cost-per-click (CPC). High CPC isn’t just a minor annoyance—it can drastically reduce your ROI and make even well-targeted campaigns unprofitable. Understanding why your Bing Ads have high CPC is critical if you want to optimize performance and get more conversions without overspending.
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In this article, we’ll explore the real reasons behind high CPC in Bing Ads, how the platform’s bidding system works, and actionable solutions to reduce costs while maintaining campaign effectiveness.
Understanding Bing Ads CPC
Before diving into the causes, it’s important to understand how Bing Ads determines CPC. Bing Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) auction model. Advertisers bid on keywords, and Bing decides which ads to display based on ad relevance, quality, bid amount, and expected performance.
The formula is essentially:
Ad Rank = Bid × Quality Score
Where Quality Score is based on expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience. A higher-quality ad can actually lower CPC because Bing rewards relevance and performance.
So if your CPC is high, it’s often a combination of competitive bids and low ad quality. Let’s break down the main causes.
Highly Competitive Keywords
The most obvious reason for high CPC is bidding on highly competitive keywords. Keywords with high commercial intent (like “buy life insurance online” or “best SEO software”) are in demand because they drive conversions.
When multiple advertisers compete for the same keyword, CPC naturally rises. Bing Ads, while often cheaper than Google Ads, still reflects competition in high-intent markets.
Solution:
Long-tail keywords: Focus on more specific search terms with lower competition but still relevant traffic. For example, instead of “SEO software,” target “SEO software for small e-commerce sites.”
Use match types wisely: Broad match keywords tend to drive high CPC due to irrelevant clicks. Consider using phrase match or exact match for better control.
Poor Quality Score
Bing rewards relevance. If your ads and landing pages aren’t closely aligned with user intent, your Quality Score drops, and CPC goes up. Quality Score in Bing Ads considers:
Expected click-through rate (CTR) – How likely users are to click your ad.
Ad relevance – How closely your ad matches the search query.
Landing page experience – Speed, relevance, and usability of your landing page.
A low-quality ad requires you to bid more to compete with higher-quality ads.
Solution:
Improve ad relevance: Ensure your ad copy includes the main keyword and matches the search intent.
Enhance landing pages: Make pages fast, mobile-friendly, and relevant to the ad. Include a clear CTA and remove distractions.
Test ad variations: Run A/B tests to identify which ad copy gets the best CTR.
Targeting Too Broad an Audience
Targeting a broad audience often drives clicks from users who aren’t ready to convert. For example, bidding on a keyword like “SEO services” without geographic or demographic restrictions may attract clicks from low-intent users, raising CPC without increasing ROI.
Solution:
Geo-targeting: Focus on regions where your audience is most likely to convert.
Dayparting: Limit ads to times when your target audience is active and engaged.
Device targeting: Exclude devices that perform poorly or aren’t relevant for conversions.
High Bid Settings
Sometimes the cause is as simple as overbidding. Many advertisers set bids based on assumptions rather than data, which leads to unnecessarily high CPC.
Solution:
Use bid automation: Bing Ads offers automated bidding strategies like Enhanced CPC or Target CPA.
Start low, monitor, and adjust: Begin with a moderate bid and increase gradually if necessary.
Check auction insights: Review competitor performance and adjust bids strategically.
Lack of Negative Keywords
High CPC often results from irrelevant clicks triggered by searches you don’t want. Without a well-maintained negative keyword list, your ads may appear for unrelated queries, wasting money and increasing your average CPC.
Solution:
Regularly update negative keywords: Identify irrelevant search queries from the search terms report.
Segment campaigns: Separate high-performing and low-performing keywords to control where your ads appear.
Use keyword research tools: Discover potential negative keywords before they drain your budget.
Poor Ad Extensions Usage
Ad extensions improve ad visibility and click-through rate. Missing or poorly optimized extensions can indirectly increase CPC because your ads may achieve lower CTRs, reducing Quality Score.
Solution:
Implement all relevant extensions: Sitelink, callout, structured snippet, and location extensions all help improve CTR.
Test different extensions: Evaluate which ones drive engagement and conversions.
Keep extensions updated: Ensure information is accurate and enticing.
Inefficient Campaign Structure
A common mistake is grouping too many unrelated keywords or ads in one campaign or ad group. This dilutes relevance, reduces CTR, and increases CPC.
Solution:
Tightly themed ad groups: Group keywords by intent and match them with highly relevant ads.
Dedicated landing pages: Each ad group should point to a landing page optimized for those keywords.
Monitor performance metrics: Use CTR, conversion rate, and Quality Score to refine ad groups continuously.
Seasonal or Market Fluctuations
Sometimes high CPC is temporary due to seasonality or sudden competition spikes. For example, CPC for retail products increases around holidays, and some industries see quarterly fluctuations.
Solution:
Plan budgets around peaks: Increase bids strategically during high-converting periods.
Leverage historical data: Analyze past trends to anticipate CPC spikes.
Use ad scheduling: Reduce bids or pause ads during low-conversion periods.
Leverage Bing’s Automated Bidding Strategies
Manual bidding can work for small campaigns, but for larger accounts or competitive industries, automated bidding is a game-changer. Bing Ads offers several options:
Enhanced CPC (ECPC): Automatically adjusts your manual bids to get more conversions while staying within budget.
Maximize Conversions: Bing automatically sets bids to generate the highest number of conversions possible within your budget.
Target CPA (Cost per Acquisition): Bing adjusts bids to meet a specific cost per conversion goal.
Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Ideal for e-commerce, Bing sets bids to achieve your desired revenue per ad spend.
Implementation Tips:
Start with Enhanced CPC if you’re new to automated bidding.
Monitor performance closely for the first few weeks—automation takes time to “learn.”
Adjust conversion windows and ensure your conversion tracking is accurate, as automated strategies rely heavily on historical data.
Refine Keyword Strategy with Intent-Based Segmentation
High CPC often occurs when keywords are treated uniformly. The solution is segmentation by intent:
Commercial intent keywords: High-intent buyers like “buy dental insurance online” may have high CPC, but these clicks are more likely to convert. Focus your budget here.
Informational intent keywords: Terms like “best dental insurance tips” usually have lower CPC but lower conversion potential. Use these for retargeting or awareness campaigns.
Long-tail keywords: These are highly specific searches. While volume is lower, CPC is often much cheaper, and conversion rates are higher due to clear intent.
Implementation Tips:
Use tools like Bing Keyword Planner and third-party SEO/PPC tools to analyze keyword intent.
Group keywords by intent into separate ad groups and campaigns for tighter relevance and lower CPC.
Optimize Landing Pages for Quality Score
Bing Ads rewards ads that lead to a strong landing page experience. Optimizing landing pages can reduce CPC indirectly by boosting Quality Score. Key elements include:
Page relevance: Ensure landing page content directly matches the ad copy and keyword.
Page speed: Slow pages increase bounce rate and reduce CTR, negatively impacting Quality Score.
Mobile optimization: More than 50% of searches are mobile—responsive design is essential.
Clear CTA: Remove distractions and make conversion actions obvious.
Implementation Tips:
Use A/B testing to continuously refine your landing pages.
Include keyword-rich headings, meta descriptions, and content that matches the user’s intent.
Track bounce rate and conversion rate to identify weak spots.
Use Audience Targeting and Remarketing
Audience targeting allows you to reach people more likely to convert, reducing wasted clicks and lowering CPC over time.
Remarketing lists: Show ads to users who previously visited your site—these clicks are more likely to convert, improving ROI.
In-market audiences: Target users actively searching for products or services similar to yours.
Custom audiences: Upload your CRM data to reach high-value prospects directly.
Implementation Tips:
Combine audience targeting with dayparting and geographic restrictions for maximum efficiency.
Adjust bids based on audience performance—higher bids for high-value audiences, lower bids for generic traffic.
Competitor Analysis and Auction Insights
Sometimes high CPC is driven by aggressive competitors. Bing Ads provides Auction Insights to monitor:
Who else is bidding on your keywords
Their impression share and overlap rate
How often they outrank you
Implementation Tips:
Identify competitors with higher CPC but lower ad quality—your well-optimized ads can outperform them at a lower cost.
Adjust bids strategically to avoid bidding wars with ultra-competitive advertisers.
Explore niche keywords where competition is lower but conversion potential remains strong.
Regular Campaign Audits
High CPC is often a result of campaigns left unchecked. Continuous optimization is key.
Search term reports: Identify irrelevant queries driving up CPC and add them as negative keywords.
Keyword performance reviews: Pause or reduce bids on keywords that are expensive and underperforming.
Ad performance tracking: Rotate ad creatives to maintain high CTR and improve Quality Score.
Implementation Tips:
Schedule monthly audits for CPC, CTR, conversion rates, and Quality Score.
Use dashboards or Excel sheets to track trends over time.
Test small changes incrementally—don’t overhaul campaigns too aggressively at once.
Experiment with Ad Copy and Extensions
Ad copy and extensions directly impact CTR, which affects CPC. High-performing ads cost less per click.
Compelling headlines: Use power words and unique selling points to increase clicks.
Ad extensions: Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, and location extensions all improve ad visibility and CTR.
Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI): Personalize ads based on search queries to boost relevance.
Implementation Tips:
Test multiple ad versions per ad group (at least 3-4).
Monitor CTR and conversion rates to determine which variations reduce CPC.
Update ad copy regularly to prevent fatigue and maintain engagement.
Use Bid Modifiers Strategically
Bid modifiers allow you to increase or decrease bids for devices, locations, demographics, and time of day. This fine-tuning ensures you’re not overpaying for low-value clicks.
Device adjustments: Reduce bids for underperforming devices.
Location adjustments: Increase bids in high-performing regions and lower them where conversions are low.
Time/day adjustments: Lower bids during off-hours or high-CPC periods with low conversion potential.
Monitor Industry Trends and Seasonality
CPC fluctuates based on industry trends, holidays, and market changes. Being proactive can save significant budget.
Use historical data to anticipate CPC spikes.
Plan campaigns around seasonal demand to maximize ROI.
Adjust bids preemptively rather than reacting after costs rise.
Continuous Learning and Testing
Finally, successful CPC optimization is never “set and forget.” Continuous learning, testing, and adaptation are essential:
Test new keywords, ad copy, and landing pages regularly.
Track metrics like CPC, CTR, conversion rate, and Quality Score.
Stay updated with Bing Ads platform updates, auction changes, and best practices.
Conclusion
High CPC in Bing Ads is rarely caused by a single factor. It’s usually a combination of competitive keywords, low-quality ads, poor targeting, and inefficient campaign structure. By understanding the underlying causes and implementing strategic solutions—from automated bidding and landing page optimization to audience targeting and bid modifiers—you can lower your CPC, improve ROI, and make your Bing Ads campaigns more profitable.
Remember: the key is continuous monitoring and optimization. Small incremental improvements across keywords, ads, audiences, and landing pages compound over time, leading to substantial CPC reductions.
Optimize your Bing Ads today with our expert services – we help businesses systematically reduce CPC while maximizing conversions.
About Marketing LTB
Marketing LTB is a full-service marketing agency offering over 50 specialized services across 100+ industries. Our seasoned team leverages data-driven strategies and a full-funnel approach to maximize your ROI and fuel business growth.
About the author, Bill Nash
Bill Nash is the CMO of Marketing LTB with over a decade of experience, he has driven growth for Fortune 500 companies and startups through data-driven campaigns and advanced marketing technologies. He has written over 400 pieces of content about marketing, covering topics like marketing tips, guides, AI in advertising, advanced PPC strategies, conversion optimization, and others.