Import cleanup and restructure
Inherited campaign structure simplified to match actual volume, so bidding has enough data per group to work at all.
The skipped channel
Microsoft Ads is the channel most accounts import badly and then ignore
A one-click import from Google gets you live in minutes and underperforming for years. The volume is smaller here, which is exactly why the setup has to be deliberate.
Almost every advertiser we audit has a Microsoft Advertising account. Most of them created it with a straight import from Google Ads, checked it twice, and left it running. It usually spends a small amount, produces a small amount, and confirms the belief that the channel does not matter.
The import is the problem. It copies structure, budgets, bids, and often ad copy built for a different auction with different competition and a different audience. Bid strategies land on a fraction of the conversion volume they were tuned for. Search partner placement, which behaves nothing like the core network, is frequently left on by default.
Handled properly, the picture changes. Competition on many commercial terms is lighter, which shows up directly in cost per click. The audience skews toward desktop and workplace usage, which suits some categories considerably. And this is the only search platform where LinkedIn profile data can be layered onto search targeting.
We are still honest about scale. For most advertisers this is a supplement rather than a primary channel. It rarely replaces a Google program. It regularly produces some of the cheapest qualified conversions in an account once someone treats it as its own thing.
What it is
What running Microsoft Advertising properly involves
Rebuilding what the import got wrong, then using what only this platform offers.
The first job is undoing import damage. Campaign structure gets simplified to match lower volume, because a granular Google build starves every ad group of the data automated bidding needs. Bid strategies get reset to something appropriate for the conversion count actually available. Budgets get set from this platform's costs rather than inherited from a larger account.
Search partner placement is the second common leak. Traffic from partner sites converts differently, sometimes materially worse, and it is included by default. We segment it, measure it separately, and keep it only where the numbers justify it rather than accepting it as part of the package.
LinkedIn profile targeting is the genuine differentiator. Company, industry, and job function can be layered onto search campaigns as a bid adjustment or a targeting restriction. For B2B advertisers that combination of stated search intent plus professional context does not exist anywhere else, and it is the single strongest reason to take this channel seriously.
Audience differences are worth planning around rather than treating as trivia. Usage skews toward desktop and workplace contexts, which affects device bidding, offer framing, and what a realistic conversion path looks like. Copy written for a phone-first consumer audience is not automatically right here.
Fit
Who this is for, and who it is not for
We would rather say no early than sell a program that cannot work.
Right fit
- You already run Google Ads and want cheaper incremental volume from the same intent.
- Your buyers are reachable in a workplace or desktop context.
- B2B targeting by company, industry, or job function would sharpen your search buying.
Not the right fit
- You need this to be a primary channel replacing Google search volume.
- Your audience is almost entirely mobile-first consumer.
- Nobody has capacity to manage it as its own account rather than a mirrored copy.
Deliverables
What Microsoft Ads management includes
A rebuild, not a mirror.
Search partner segmentation
Partner network traffic measured separately and kept only where it converts, instead of left on by default.
LinkedIn profile targeting
Company, industry, and job function layered onto search campaigns, which is available on this platform and nowhere else.
Bid and budget reset
Strategies and budgets set from this auction's economics rather than copied from a larger Google account.
Audience-aware copy
Ad copy and offers adapted for desktop and workplace context rather than reused from mobile-first consumer campaigns.
Incrementality read
A clear assessment of what this channel adds beyond your Google program, including a recommendation to keep spend small when that is the truth.
How we run it
How we take over a Microsoft account
Almost always a repair job before it is a growth job.
Step 1: Audit the import
We identify what was copied from Google, what no longer fits, and where bid strategies are starved of conversion data.
Step 2: Restructure for volume
Campaigns consolidated so each unit sees enough traffic for automation to make sensible decisions.
Step 3: Isolate search partners
Partner traffic separated and evaluated on its own numbers before it is allowed to keep spending.
Step 4: Layer professional targeting
Where B2B applies, LinkedIn profile signals are added as adjustments or restrictions and tested against an unlayered control.
Step 5: Size the channel honestly
A written recommendation on the share of budget this deserves, including holding it flat when the incremental value is modest.
Is Microsoft Advertising worth running alongside Google Ads?
For most advertisers already on Google, yes, as a supplement. Competition on many commercial terms is lighter and cost per click is often lower, but total volume is smaller, so it adds efficient incremental conversions rather than replacing a primary channel.
The common mistake is judging it on the results of a copied import, which was never configured for this auction in the first place.
Why does importing Google campaigns underperform?
The import copies structure, bids, and budgets tuned for far higher volume. Granular ad groups end up with too few conversions for automated bidding, and settings like search partner inclusion carry over unexamined.
- Consolidate structure so each unit gathers usable data.
- Reset bid strategies to the conversion volume actually available.
- Segment search partner traffic before trusting blended performance.
Where this connects
Where Microsoft Ads connects to other work
A supplement only makes sense relative to the primary channel.
This channel is judged against the account it supplements, which is why it is planned alongside Google Ads using the same conversion definitions so the comparison is fair.
Professional targeting here overlaps with the audience logic behind LinkedIn ads with the difference that search intent is already present when the profile filter applies.
Deciding how much budget a secondary channel deserves is the job of campaign management where incrementality is weighed instead of channels being funded by habit.
Fair comparison across accounts depends on consistent conversion definitions from conversion tracking since two platforms counting differently makes any efficiency claim meaningless.
Every search buy sits under the broader paid media pillar alongside social and video advertising.
Questions
Microsoft Ads questions we get asked
Stop judging Microsoft Ads on a copied import
We rebuild it for its own auction, then tell you honestly what it is worth.