Microsoft Advertising: Running Search Ads on Bing

Where the ads appear

Microsoft's page What is the Microsoft Advertising Network? splits the network in two:

• Search advertising uses keywords and targeting to reach people searching for what you offer. Microsoft says these ads can appear with search results on Microsoft Bing, AOL, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and other partners. Ad distribution settings let you choose the whole network or Microsoft sites and select traffic.
• Audience advertising shows display, native and video ads to people based on interests and purchase intent. Microsoft lists MSN, Microsoft Start, Microsoft Edge, Outlook.com and publisher partners. Ad placement settings control where they appear.

Performance Max campaigns can serve in both. Some Microsoft properties also restrict what they accept beyond the general ad policies. Microsoft's publisher preferences page lists them: for example, MSN and Microsoft Edge do not accept antivirus ads, and Outlook does not accept ads for email and calendar apps.

Paid ads are separate from organic results. To see and improve how your site appears in Bing's unpaid results, use Bing Webmaster Tools.

How an account is organised

Microsoft's entity limits documentation describes it from the top down:

• Accounts organise campaigns and hold the payment method.
• Campaigns are the top level of an advertising campaign, where you set the budget.
• Ad groups hold related keywords and ads, along with default bids and where the ads show. Microsoft suggests keeping them "tightly focused with related keywords and a small number of ads".
• Keywords and ads sit inside each ad group. Keywords can override the ad group's default bids.

Agencies and businesses with several accounts group them under manager accounts. Microsoft's Account map shows that hierarchy and which accounts are owned or linked. For keywords, match types, bids and budgets in general, see our Google Ads basics guide; this guide covers what is specific to Microsoft.

Importing from Google Ads

Microsoft's import guide describes three paths after you sign in to Google from the Import menu:

• Quick import uses Microsoft's default settings.
• Smart import lets you set the name, schedule, bids, budgets and statuses.
• Advanced import lets you choose which campaigns, ad groups and items come across, adjust bid strategies and budgets, and associate a UET tag.

An automatic schedule re-runs the import so changes in Google Ads carry over. Microsoft says you can import up to 10 Google Ads accounts at once from a manager account.

Not everything maps one-to-one. Microsoft's page What gets imported from Google Ads lists the differences, including:

• Search and Display Network ad groups become Search, because Microsoft "stopped serving ads on the content network".
• Demand Gen campaigns become Audience campaigns, and Performance Max becomes Performance Max or Search.
• Campaigns declared as political are skipped.
• If you have no conversion goal in Microsoft Advertising, a bid strategy that needs one is converted to one that does not.

Microsoft says to review your campaigns after every import. In practice that means checking bids, budgets, locations, conversion goals and the UET tag before you switch the campaigns on.

The UET tag

Microsoft's tracking tag is called Universal Event Tracking (UET). Its page What is UET? says the tag "records what customers do on your website and sends that information to Microsoft Advertising". It also says UET is a prerequisite for conversion tracking, remarketing in paid search and automated bid strategies such as Maximize conversions and Target CPA.

So an imported campaign with no UET tag can spend money, but it cannot report conversions or bid on them properly. Install the tag on every page, set up your conversion goals, and check that conversions record before you rely on automated bidding.

Consent mode in Europe

Microsoft's page Setting up UET for consent mode asks advertisers to send consent signals for visitors from the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland. You can do this with Consent Mode or the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). The setting is called ad_storage:

• granted: UET may read and write first- and third-party cookies.
• denied: UET's first-party cookies are not used, and its third-party cookies are only read for fraud and spam purposes.

Microsoft says it is enforcing Consent Mode in those countries, where the default is denied. Not passing "granted" when a visitor accepts "will lead to conversion loss".

It offers two setups. Basic fires no tags until consent is given. Advanced loads the tag at once with consent defaulting to denied and collects only anonymised data until the visitor chooses. Microsoft recommends Advanced. It lists supported consent platforms, including Cookiebot, CookieYes, OneTrust and Usercentrics, and a Google Tag Manager template. It also says that complying with local law is the advertiser's responsibility. Our guide to cookie consent banners covers the banner itself.

Offline conversions

If sales close by phone or in your CRM, Microsoft supports the same idea as Google's offline import. Its page on tracking offline conversions works through the Microsoft Click ID (MSCLKID):

• Auto-tagging adds the MSCLKID to the landing page URL; it turns on automatically when you create your first offline conversion goal.
• Your site stores it in a cookie. Microsoft notes it is only in the landing page URL and does not carry over to other pages by itself.
• You save it with the lead and upload it with the sale.

Microsoft gives several timing rules: wait two hours after creating a goal before uploading, data can take up to six hours to show, and conversions uploaded more than 90 days after the click are not imported. The CRM side works the same way as described in our offline conversion import guide.

A starting checklist

• Decide whether to start from a Google Ads import or build fresh, and import only campaigns that already work.
• Review imported bids, budgets, locations and ad distribution before enabling anything.
• Install UET on every page and set up conversion goals; confirm conversions record.
• For visitors in the EEA, UK or Switzerland, connect your consent banner to UET Consent Mode.
• Keep MSCLKID alongside GCLID in your forms and CRM if you plan offline imports.
• Use separate UTM tags so Bing traffic is easy to tell apart in analytics.

Frequently asked questions

Where do Microsoft Advertising search ads show?

Microsoft says search ads can appear with results on Microsoft Bing, AOL, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and other partners. Ad distribution settings let you limit them to Microsoft sites and select traffic.

Can I copy my Google Ads campaigns?

Yes. Microsoft Advertising can import campaigns from Google Ads, once or on an automatic schedule, with quick, smart or advanced options. Some items change on the way, so review bids, budgets, locations and conversion goals before you enable the campaigns.

Do I need the UET tag?

Yes, if you want to measure results. Microsoft says UET is a prerequisite for conversion tracking, remarketing in paid search and automated bid strategies.

Is consent mode required in the UK and EU?

Microsoft asks advertisers to send consent signals for visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, through Consent Mode or TCF. It enforces Consent Mode there with a default of denied, so conversions are lost if granted consent is not passed.

Want your website's tracking, consent and landing pages ready for search ads? See our website development service and all our services, or email [email protected].