Earned & PaidMicrosoft
Microsoft spent $2.70B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2026, up 28.6% on the year before and +69% since 2019. That's 0.8% of revenue, less than in 2019: the business outgrew its marketing.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue. Years where the filing's revenue line isn't comparable are left out of the line.
Search advertising (formerly Search and news advertising), by quarter
From each 10-Q and 10-K; fourth quarters are the full year minus nine months.
Say vs do
We found no statement about the size of Microsoft's marketing budget on its earnings calls or in its 10-Ks, so here is its record against its peers.
What they said
No statement about the size of its marketing budget.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $2.70B | +28.6% | 0.8% |
| FY2025 | $2.10B | +23.5% | 0.8% |
| FY2024 | $1.70B | +88.1% | 0.7% |
| FY2023 | $904M | -39.7% | 0.4% |
| FY2022 | $1.50B | 0.0% | 0.8% |
| FY2021 | $1.50B | -6.2% | 0.9% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 3 other Tech advertisers we track (Apple, Alphabet, Meta): since 2019 its marketing spend went +69% (peer median +40%); its share of revenue moved -0.5 pts (median -1.4); last year +28.6% (median +13.8%).
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Paid search “Operating expenses increased $1.5 billion or 14% driven by investments in Gaming, Search and news advertising, and Windows marketing.” 10-K · Jul 28, 2022 · source
- Programmatic & display “On June 6, 2022, we acquired Xandr, Inc., a technology platform with tools to accelerate the delivery of our digital advertising solutions.” 10-K · Jul 28, 2022 · source
What they see in the market
What its leaders and filings say about the ad market: its own ad business, or the channels advertisers use, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Paid search · Programmatic & display “Our Search advertising business is designed to deliver relevant search, native, and display advertising to a global audience.” 10-K · Jul 29, 2026 · source
- AI in marketing “The investments we have made in improving our ad rates are paying off and advertisers increasingly see our network as an essential platform to optimize ROI.” Satya Nadella on the earnings call · Jan 29, 2025 · source
- Connected TV & streaming “More broadly, we are growing our ad network, which is now available in 187 markets spanning search, display, native, retail, media, video, and connected TV. Now, on to gaming.” Satya Nadella on the earnings call · Jul 25, 2023 · source
- CRM, loyalty & first-party data “And with PromoteIQ, we are providing a platform for retailers like Home Depot, Kohl's, and Kroger to build their own digital commerce and marketing channels.” Satya Nadella on the earnings call · Jul 27, 2022 · source
- Influencers & creators “And creators are increasingly turning to the platform to establish their voices and grow their communities using tools like newsletters to share content, they are passionate about.” Satya Nadella on the earnings call · Apr 26, 2022 · source
In the news
- Microsoft May Interrupt Games for Ads Yahoo News UK · Sep 29, 2026 · platforms & adtech
- Gears of War: E-Day and XBOX Unleash “The Emergence Pie” with Prince St. Pizza news.xbox.com · Sep 28, 2026 · sponsorship
- The 'Copilot+ PC' brand, which Microsoft and Qualcomm had been promoting, has effectively disappeared. gigazine.net · Sep 27, 2026 · brand strategy
- Microsoft Patents New XBOX Technologies That Track Players and Introduce In-Game Ads NoobFeed · Sep 26, 2026 · platforms & adtech