I’ve taken over a lot of Microsoft Advertising accounts that were running on autopilot — imported from Google once, bids never touched, search terms never pruned, LinkedIn targeting never enabled. It’s one of the most common paid search mistakes I see. The platform has real capabilities that most advertisers leave completely unused. These are the 15 optimizations I run on every account I inherit, in roughly the order I apply them.
1. Clean Up the Search Terms Report Weekly
This is step one, always. Export the search terms report and add every non-converting irrelevant term as a negative keyword. On new accounts I inherit, I typically find 20-40 wasteful search terms in the first two weeks. Bing’s match type behavior is slightly different from Google’s — broad match on Bing can expand in unexpected directions. Weekly negatives review is non-negotiable for the first 90 days of any new account.
2. Add LinkedIn Audience Targeting Layers
Microsoft owns LinkedIn. You can layer LinkedIn job title, industry, company size, and seniority targeting directly onto search campaigns. Go to campaign settings and add LinkedIn audiences in “bid only” mode initially. After 30 days, review which LinkedIn segments are converting at the lowest CPA and shift those to “target and bid.” For B2B and professional services clients, this single optimization consistently improves lead quality. See my full breakdown in the LinkedIn Targeting guide.
3. Apply In-Market Audience Bid Adjustments
Microsoft’s in-market audiences identify users actively researching your category. Apply them to ad groups with positive bid adjustments of +15 to +30%. These users are more likely to convert, and prioritizing them improves both impression share and conversion rate simultaneously. I use this on every account — it’s a quick win that’s easy to configure and consistently moves the needle on CPA.
4. Build Custom Audiences from UET Data
If you have UET installed and website traffic, build custom remarketing lists: homepage visitors, service page visitors, contact page abandoners, and converters (to exclude from prospecting). Apply higher bid adjustments to recent visitors (past 7-14 days) who haven’t converted yet. Past site visitors convert at 2-4x the rate of cold traffic, and Bing’s audience minimum thresholds are lower than Google’s for Display remarketing.
5. Schedule Ads for High-Converting Hours
Pull hourly performance data and identify your top-converting windows. For most of my local service clients, weekday mornings and early afternoons convert best; late nights rarely justify full bids. Set negative bid adjustments (typically -50% to -100%) for your worst-performing hours. Don’t copy your Google dayparting exactly — Bing’s hourly patterns can differ, especially for desktop-heavy audiences.
6. Set Device Bid Adjustments
Microsoft Advertising lets you adjust bids by device. Bing’s audience is more desktop-heavy than Google’s, particularly for B2B and professional services. Run your device performance report and adjust bids accordingly. For legal and medical clients, I typically see desktop converting 20-40% better than mobile on Bing — I reflect that in bid adjustments. For home services, mobile performance is stronger and I adjust accordingly.
7. Configure Location Bid Adjustments
If you serve multiple cities or zip codes, analyze conversion data by location and apply bid adjustments. For a San Diego advertiser, La Jolla and Del Mar leads might be worth 30% more than leads from outlying areas — configure location bids to reflect that. I typically set this up in the second month, once enough location data has accumulated to make the adjustments data-driven rather than guesses.
8. Build a Robust Negative Keyword List
Create shared negative keyword lists at the account level and apply them to all campaigns. Include: competitor brand terms you don’t want to appear for, irrelevant geographic modifiers, job-seeking terms (jobs, salary, career, training, certification), DIY/free terms if your service is paid, and industry-specific irrelevancies I learn from the search terms report. Import your Google Ads negative lists as a starting point — they contain months of valuable data.
9. Test Ad Copy Systematically
Run at least two RSA variations per ad group. After 200+ impressions per asset, review performance by CTR and conversion rate. Pause underperformers and create new variations testing different value propositions — price, speed, expertise, local presence. Don’t just copy Google ad copy verbatim; test messaging that speaks specifically to Bing’s more deliberate, research-oriented audience. Longer, more informational headlines sometimes outperform punchy Google-style copy on Bing.
10. Monitor Quality Scores by Ad Group
Low quality scores increase CPCs and reduce impression share on Bing just like on Google. Sort ad groups by quality score and prioritize improving those below 5. Main levers: tighter keyword-ad copy alignment, better landing page relevance, and faster page load times. Bing’s quality score thresholds are slightly different from Google’s but the improvement methodology is identical.
11. Set Automated Rules for Key Alerts
Configure automated rules to catch performance issues between check-ins: pause keywords with CPA above a threshold for 7+ days, alert when campaign spend reaches 80% of daily budget by noon, send daily spend summary by email. These simple rules provide a safety net that catches runaway spend or underperformance before it compounds. Set them up under Tools > Automated Rules.
12. Audit Microsoft Audience Network Placement Performance
If your campaigns include the Audience Network, segment performance by network. MSAN placements often have different CPC and conversion rates than search. If Audience Network performance is poor, exclude it from search campaigns via campaign settings and evaluate it separately with dedicated budget and creative. Mixing search and MSAN in a single campaign makes optimization harder.
13. Review Impression Share and Lost IS
Check impression share (IS) and lost IS due to budget and rank. If you’re losing significant IS due to budget and ROI is positive, increase budget. If losing IS due to rank (low QS or bids), focus on QS improvements before raising bids. Bing’s IS data is available at campaign, ad group, and keyword level — use keyword-level IS data to identify your highest-value keywords that need prioritization.
14. Sync Negative Keywords from Google Ads Monthly
Your Google Ads negative lists contain data from more traffic volume than Bing will generate in the same period. Export them monthly and import into Microsoft Advertising. This prevents the same wasted search terms from draining your Bing budget and gives your campaigns a consistent efficiency baseline across both platforms.
15. Review the Recommendations Tab Critically
Microsoft Advertising’s Recommendations tab suggests optimizations, but not all benefit your account. Automated bidding recommendations may not be appropriate if you lack conversion volume. Keyword expansion suggestions need manual vetting. Accept only recommendations that align with your campaign strategy. I review this tab monthly and accept roughly 20-30% of what’s suggested — the rest gets dismissed.
Running through this optimization checklist is how I take over a neglected Microsoft Advertising account and turn it into a consistent lead source. If you’d like help optimizing your Bing campaigns or adding Microsoft Advertising to your paid search mix, check out my PPC management services or contact me directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I optimize a Microsoft Advertising account?
For active accounts with meaningful spend ($500+/month), I recommend a brief weekly check (15-20 minutes) and a deeper monthly optimization session (1-2 hours). Weekly: check for search term anomalies, review spend pacing, scan for policy flags. Monthly: update negative keyword lists, review bid adjustments by device and location, evaluate ad copy performance, assess LinkedIn audience performance, and update automated rules. Bing requires significantly less ongoing time than Google — maybe 20-25% of the equivalent Google management time — but it’s not set-and-forget.
What’s the biggest optimization mistake on Microsoft Advertising?
Treating it as a passive Google Ads copy. Importing once and never making Bing-specific optimizations — LinkedIn audience targeting, device bid adjustments calibrated to Bing’s desktop-heavy traffic, Bing-specific negative keywords, separate Audience Network management — leaves the majority of Bing’s performance potential on the table. The accounts that perform best on Bing are the ones that were actively optimized for Bing’s specific audience and features, not just maintained as a lower-volume Google mirror.
Does Smart Bidding work on Microsoft Advertising?
Yes, Microsoft Advertising has automated bidding strategies comparable to Google’s — Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions, and Enhanced CPC. The same data requirements apply: you need 30+ conversions per month before Target CPA or Target ROAS will optimize reliably. For accounts with lower Bing volume, I use Enhanced CPC or manual bidding until enough conversion data accumulates. Don’t auto-import bidding strategies from Google — Bing’s algorithms have less data and need more human guardrails.
How do I improve lead quality from Microsoft Advertising?
LinkedIn audience targeting is the primary lever. Layer job title, industry, or company size targeting onto your ad groups in bid-only mode, review performance after 30 days, and shift high-performing LinkedIn segments to target-and-bid. Second, tighten device targeting — Bing’s audience is more desktop-oriented for professional services, and reducing mobile bid adjustments often improves lead quality without significantly reducing volume. Third, review your search terms report weekly and add negatives aggressively — Bing’s match type behavior can expand into off-topic queries that don’t convert.
What reporting does Microsoft Advertising provide?
Microsoft Advertising provides comprehensive reporting at the account, campaign, ad group, keyword, and ad level. Key reports I use regularly: Search Terms Report (identifies negative keyword opportunities), Audience Performance Report (evaluates LinkedIn and other audience segment performance), Geographic Report (identifies location bid adjustment opportunities), Device Report (informs device bid adjustments), and Share of Voice Report (equivalent to Google’s impression share). Reports can be customized, scheduled, and exported to CSV or Excel. The interface is generally considered slightly more transparent than Google Ads for search term data.
