Microsoft's search and advertising business generated more revenue than the entire Xbox business between July and September 2026. The division, which includes ads on Bing and LinkedIn, as well as LinkedIn Premium subscriptions, reported US$6.55 billion in revenue, compared with US$5.38 billion for Xbox, a gap of US$1.2 billion. The figures appear in Microsoft's quarterly report for the period ended September 30.
The lead is not new, but it widened over one year. In the same quarter of 2025, search and advertising generated US$5.94 billion, 8% more than Xbox (US$5.51 billion). In 2026, the lead reached 22%: search and advertising revenue rose 10%, while Xbox revenue fell 2%.
What the search and advertising business includes
The "Search and advertising" line, which exceeds gaming revenue, includes ads on Bing, the Edge browser, the MSN portal and partners that display Microsoft ads. Starting this quarter, it also includes two LinkedIn revenue sources: the network's advertising through LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, and LinkedIn Premium subscriptions.
Excluding traffic acquisition costs, the business's revenue grew 12%. Microsoft attributes that growth to higher pricing and volume on LinkedIn, Edge and Bing.
Search and advertising and Xbox revenue, July to September
Bing and LinkedIn ads generate US$1.2bn more than Xbox
Source: Microsoft (10-Q)
Between July and September 2025, search and advertising generated US$5.94 billion and Xbox US$5.51 billion. In 2026, the figures were US$6.55 billion and US$5.38 billion.
| Period | Search and advertising (US$ billion) | Xbox (US$ billion) |
|---|---|---|
| Jul-Sep 2025 | 5.9 | 5.5 |
| Jul-Sep 2026 | 6.6 | 5.4 |
Source: Microsoft (10-Q)
The gap between search and advertising and Xbox almost tripled in one year, rising from US$434 million to US$1.175 billion. The comparison uses Microsoft's own restated 2025 figures under the new classification, which incorporates some LinkedIn revenue.
New Search and advertising line compared with Xbox
Without LinkedIn, advertising would fall below Xbox
Source: Microsoft (10-Q) · Jul-Sep 2025, the only quarter in both definitions.
Between July and September 2025, search and advertising totaled US$5.94 billion: US$3.70 billion from Bing, Edge and MSN, and US$2.24 billion from LinkedIn and other. Xbox generated US$5.51 billion.
| Line | Bing, Edge and MSN (US$ billion) | LinkedIn and other (US$ billion) | Xbox (US$ billion) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising | 3.7 | 2.2 | no data |
| Xbox | no data | no data | 5.5 |
Source: Microsoft (10-Q)
Note: Jul-Sep 2025, the only quarter in both definitions.
Xbox shrinks within Microsoft
Xbox also lost share of Microsoft's revenue, as Jogometria showed in its earnings analysis. Gaming accounted for 5.8% of company revenue between July and September 2026, down from 7.1% a year earlier.
This is the second-lowest share in the series analyzed, which begins in July 2019, above only the 5.5% recorded between April and June 2026. Search and advertising accounted for 7.1% of total revenue.
Xbox's 2% decline came from both sides of the business.
Hardware fell 14%, with fewer consoles sold. Content and services revenue fell 2%, driven by games from other companies and Game Pass; Microsoft's own games grew.
Meanwhile, the rest of the company accelerated. Total revenue rose by US$14.6 billion over one year, and Azure, Microsoft's cloud business, accounted for US$10.8 billion of that increase, twice Xbox's entire revenue for the quarter.
The enterprise solutions business also moved closer to Xbox in revenue. It includes Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn's recruiting and sales services, among other businesses. It generated US$5.34 billion for the quarter, US$42 million less than gaming, and grew 9% year over year.
Another Jogometria analysis compares interest in PS5 and Xbox on Google in Brazil, Series X and PS5 Pro prices, and sentiment in social media mentions of Xbox.