In its “State of Paid Search” report for the first quarter of the year, The Search Agency finds that Bing’s growth has more than doubled the rate of Google’s in ad spend. Of course, with Google being such a dominant force, and Bing still working to catch up this doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but either way, it spells good news for Microsoft.

Advertisers spent more on both compared to the previous year, but Bing grew by 60%, and Google grew by 29%. The Search Agency also found that mobile (including tablets) accounted for 28% of all impressions. They expect this to be 40% by the end of 2014.

The majority of mobile growth came from true mobile use. Smartphone impression increased 60% while tablets increased by 42%, and desktop by 9%. Still, spend on smartphones only grew by 26%.

“Bing gains ground in overall search traffic and has proven to be an appealing alternative to Google,” said Delia Perez, SVP Marketing Strategy at the firm. “A number of factors are driving this growth as advertisers are drawn to Bing’s more flexible campaign management tools in the aftermath of Google’s crossover to enhanced campaigns. Advertisers are still adjusting to Google’s bundling of device management, and Bing may be the more attractive option because it can be a customizable alternative.”

The report also found that total spend across both Google and Bing was up 35% from the previous year, driven by all three device types (desktop, smartphone, tablet).

“Most notably, Bing started 2014 with a solid quarter,” the firm says. “Advertisers increased spend on Google and Bing, but Bing’s spend was notable and grew 60% versus Google, who only saw 29% growth over the same quarter. This increase in spend indicates that Bing is gradually becoming a more appealing network for advertisers to devote spend, in part because of its recent increases in click-through rate (CTR) combined with decreases in cost-per-clicks (CPCs).”

Earlier this week, Bing shared some numbers from IgnitionOne, declaring, “Bing Ads is off to a great start in 2014.”

“We delivered over a thousand enhancements and released dozens of new features, many of which you, our advertisers, were specifically asking for,” wrote David Pann, the GM for Microsoft’s search network. “But we won’t stop there. Now that Bing Ads has been fortified, 2014 is a year where our efforts on delivering great results and value to our customers is increased and more laser focused than ever.”

Some stats fro the IgnitionOne report:

– Market share up to 22.9% of advertiser spend

– Yahoo Bing Network clicks increased by 30% (year-over-year)

– Yahoo Bing Network clicks for smartphones increased 276 (year-over-year)

– 57%increase in Yahoo Bing Network click volume (year-over-year)

“This report reinforces and validates what we are seeing first-hand: that the overall growth of the Yahoo Bing Network continues to gain momentum,” said Pann.

Yet Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer seems to really want out of the partnership.

Image via Bing, The Search Agency