Importing Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising can copy your Google Ads campaigns in a few clicks, but bids, targets, audiences and goals do not all arrive unchanged, and a scheduled import keeps overwriting what you edit. This guide covers the setup, the changes Microsoft documents, and what to review.
This guide is built from Microsoft Advertising Help, mainly Import campaigns directly from Google Ads, What gets imported from Google Ads, Import schedule and history and Import campaigns from a file, checked on 9 November 2026. Our Microsoft Advertising basics guide covers the platform itself, the UET tag and consent mode; this page goes into the import alone.
Before you import
The import copies campaign structure, keywords, ads, extensions and most settings from Google Ads into Microsoft Advertising. A few things on the Microsoft side are worth setting up first, because the import either depends on them or quietly changes behaviour without them:
- Account currency. If the two accounts use different currencies, Microsoft offers to convert bids and budgets or to leave them for you to adjust. Microsoft says that to change an account's currency you need to set up a new account, so pick it carefully.
- One account to one account. Microsoft says it is
highly recommended
that you import a single Google Ads account into a single Microsoft Advertising account. Merging several into one raises the risk of hitting account-level keyword limits. - A UET tag and conversion goals. If you import remarketing lists or other audiences, each one needs a UET tag, and the import can create one for you. Without a conversion goal in Microsoft Advertising, bid strategies that need one are converted to one that does not, as described below.
- A Microsoft Merchant Center store for Shopping campaigns. Microsoft says to create the store first and link it to the incoming Shopping campaign during the import.
- Google sign-in. Microsoft says that if you use Google 2-step verification you may need an application-specific password for Microsoft Advertising, and that it does not use your Google sign-in for anything other than the import.
Running the import
The import lives under Import > Import from Google Ads. Quick import uses Microsoft's default settings; Customize opens Smart import, and from there Advanced import lets you pick campaigns, ad groups and item types. Some details from Microsoft's steps that are easy to miss:
- If you choose Quick import but the Google sign-in reaches a manager account with more than one Google Ads account or a Merchant Center account, you are moved to the Smart import flow.
- If you select every ad group in a campaign but leave Show paused ad groups unticked, only active ad groups are imported.
- Delete items that have been removed from your Google Ads account is an option under What to import. It is what keeps deleted Google items from lingering in Microsoft.
- From a Microsoft manager account you can import up to 10 Google Ads accounts at once, mapping each to a Microsoft account.
Microsoft lists import limits of 20,000 campaigns, 10 million ad groups, 20 million keywords and 20 million ads, among others. If an import exceeds a limit, it suggests importing campaigns in groups.
What changes on the way in
Most items map across directly. These are the ones Microsoft documents as changing:
| Item | What Microsoft Advertising does |
|---|---|
| Bids and budgets below Microsoft's minimums | Raised to the minimum by default. You can opt out, but then campaigns below the minimums are not imported. For US dollars the table lists 0.05 for a Search bid, 0.01 for a Shopping bid and 0.05 for a daily budget. |
| Unsupported bid strategies | Set to enhanced CPC (manual CPC for Audience campaigns) with bids Microsoft recommends. |
| Conversion-based bid strategies with no Microsoft conversion goal | Converted to a strategy that needs no goal; Microsoft's example is Performance Max moving to maximize clicks. |
| Broad match negative keywords | Imported as phrase match negatives, because Microsoft does not use broad match negatives. |
| Keyword match type | Imported the first time only; later imports do not update it. |
| Location targets Microsoft doesn't support | Expanded to the parent location (a state or region, for example). Location groups are not imported. |
| Age and gender | Only age and gender come across. 35-44 becomes 35-49, 55-64 becomes 50-64, and 45-54 and Unknown are not imported. |
| Network | Search and Search plus Display ad groups become Search; Display Network ad groups are not imported. |
| Campaign start and end dates | Moved to ad group level, since Microsoft supports dates only there. |
| utm_source values such as "google" | Replaced with "bing" in the imported URLs. |
| Data-driven attribution on imported goals | Imported as last click attribution. |
| Performance Max | Imported as Performance Max (or as Search for advertisers on Adobe or Marin lists). Video assets and stock images are not imported. |
| Demand Gen | Imported as Audience campaigns. |
| Carousel ads | Only the first card comes across, as a Native ad. |
Two limits on ads also matter. Microsoft allows a host of at most 35 characters in a final URL, and only three enabled responsive search ads per ad group. If responsive search ads fail to import, it suggests pausing old ones or using the delete-removed-items option.
What does not come across
Microsoft notes that something not being imported doesn't mean it's not supported
, so most of these can be rebuilt by hand:
- Many audience types. Affinity, app users, customer lists, detailed demographics and YouTube viewer lists are not imported, and neither are remarketing lists created in Google Analytics. In-market audiences and simple website visitor lists are, and membership durations over 180 days are cut to 180.
- Some conversion goals. Importing conversion goals is a pilot feature not every account has. Where it is available, only online, destination-URL goals created in Google Ads come across, not goals from Google Analytics or SA360.
- Video files. Because of YouTube's terms, Microsoft cannot import the video used in Google Ads Video campaigns, so you upload it yourself.
- Automated rules and IP exclusions. Microsoft lists both as items that can't be imported but can be recreated.
- Political campaigns. Campaigns marked as political in Google Ads are skipped.
- Unsupported languages. If none of a campaign's target languages are supported, the campaign is not imported and shows an "Unsupported target languages" error.
Scheduled imports and overwrites
An import can run Now, Once, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or on Auto, where Microsoft sets the schedule. File imports can't be scheduled. A scheduled import fetches what has changed in Google Ads since the last run; to push Google's version over items you changed only in Microsoft, use Run now on the Import schedule & history page.
The schedule is where most surprises come from. Microsoft's own pages warn about these:
- An imported Google Ads campaign and its Microsoft copy are permanently linked. Re-importing always updates the Microsoft campaign, while changes in Microsoft never touch Google.
- With Updates to existing items on, campaign status changes are copied across. Microsoft says scheduled imports can reactivate campaigns and set settings, including budgets, back to what they are in Google Ads.
- Bids, bid strategies and budgets follow Google Ads unless you turn off Update bids, Update bid strategies or Update existing campaign budgets.
- A target or extension schedule changed in Google is treated as a delete and a new add, so the old one is deleted in Microsoft. Labels removed in Google are deleted too. Ad extensions removed in Google, by contrast, are not deleted in Microsoft.
- A never-imported Google campaign with the same name as an existing Microsoft campaign is merged into it. Names are not case-sensitive in Microsoft.
- Schedules can exist at account and manager account level, so check both, and a schedule set up by a linked agency can't be edited by you.
If you want to edit in Microsoft and keep those edits, either pause the schedule or choose Items not previously imported, which Microsoft suggests to avoid overwriting existing campaigns. Deleting a schedule unlinks the campaigns from Google Ads but leaves the imported items in place.
Reviewing the result
Every run is logged under Import > Import schedule & history. The Summary column counts items imported and items with errors, and the Action column has an error file to download. Microsoft's troubleshooting steps are to fix higher-level errors first, such as campaign errors, and then the ad group errors under them. Two numbers can look odd: the update count includes every item fetched, even unchanged ones, while change history shows only real updates.
After the first import, Microsoft points to five areas to check: bids and budgets, targeting (it says settings from one platform will very likely not be appropriate
for the other), negative keywords, videos and quality score. We also check:
- Location targets that were expanded to a parent region. The error file flags each one with a warning.
- Tracking templates, custom parameters and final URL suffixes, especially if you manage them outside Google Ads.
- Which campaigns are paused, enabled or missing, searching across all statuses.
- That the UET tag fires and conversion goals record before you switch to automated bidding.
Importing from a file instead
If the direct import fails after several attempts, Microsoft suggests a file import. The file can be Excel, CSV or TSV, with column headers in Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising format; duplicate keywords are skipped, and existing ad extensions can't be updated or deleted this way. In the Review column matching step you can map headings by hand, and unmatched columns are not imported. A file import can suit teams that already prepare campaigns in spreadsheets or Google Ads Editor.
Our view: how we use it
This part is our own practice, not Microsoft's guidance. We import Search campaigns that already convert in Google Ads, as a one-off Advanced import, and leave out Display and video work. Then we treat Microsoft as its own account: set budgets for its traffic, review locations and audiences, and add the UET tag and goals. We only keep a daily or weekly schedule when the client wants Google Ads to stay the single place where changes are made, and then we turn off bid and budget updates so the two platforms can be tuned separately.
Frequently asked questions
Does Microsoft Advertising import my Google Ads conversion goals?
Only in accounts that have the pilot feature. Where it is available, Microsoft imports online, destination-URL goals created in Google Ads, with their settings, but data-driven attribution becomes last click. You still need the UET tag on your site.
Why are my paused Google Ads campaigns running in Microsoft?
Usually a scheduled import is still active. Microsoft says it keeps applying Google Ads settings at the frequency you set, which can reactivate campaigns. Pause or edit the schedule under Import schedule & history.
What happens to broad match negative keywords?
They are imported as phrase match negatives, because Microsoft Advertising does not use broad match negatives.
Can I import Performance Max campaigns?
Yes. Microsoft imports them as Performance Max campaigns, apart from some accounts that get Search campaigns. Video assets and stock images are not imported, and without a conversion goal the bid strategy becomes maximize clicks.
How many Google Ads accounts can I import at once?
Up to 10, from a Microsoft Advertising manager account, each mapped to its own Microsoft account.
For more on search advertising, see our guides to Microsoft Advertising basics, Google Ads basics, Google Ads Editor and search terms and negative keywords.