Turn on Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in a Search Ads 360 bid strategy

Turn on Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding

Turn on Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding

These instructions apply for both bid strategies and budget bid strategies.

1. Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
2. In the page menu, click Bidding & planning, then Bid strategies.
3. Click the checkbox next to the name of a bid strategy.
4. Click Edit, then select Edit bid strategy settings.
5. Select the Use Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding checkbox.
6. (Optional) Under “Advanced options”, click Auction-time bidding limits checkbox and then enter maximum bid limit.
7. Click Save.

Warmup and best practices for Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding bid strategies

After initially sharing conversion data, Microsoft Advertising recommends waiting before activating Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in a Search Ads 360 bid strategy. The recommended waiting period provided by Microsoft is two weeks plus the average conversion delay for the bid strategies you're planning to activate. The recommended waiting period provided by Microsoft is 2 weeks plus the average conversion delay for the bid strategies you're planning to activate to ensure your conversion goal is stable and conversion history has been built.

For detailed best practices on Microsoft Advertising auction-time warm-up periods and minimum conversion volume requirements, refer to the Microsoft Advertising Help Center.

What changes will I experience in my Microsoft Advertising account?

There are a few visible changes you’ll view directly in your Microsoft Advertising account:

• The shared Floodlight conversions from your Search Ads 360 account will appear as ‘Offline conversions’ under Conversion goals in Microsoft Ads.
• When Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding is enabled in a Search Ads 360 bid strategy, it automatically creates a portfolio bid strategy in every Microsoft Advertising account linked to Search Ads 360. This occurs even for accounts not specifically included in the enabled bid strategy.
• Campaigns controlled by a Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding enabled Search Ads 360 bid strategy are automatically added to a Microsoft portfolio bid strategy. Search Ads 360 manages the targets and/or budgets and other settings for these portfolio bid strategies. It's important not to modify the settings for these bid strategies in Microsoft Advertising while they remain part of a Search Ads 360 bid strategy. Any changes will be automatically overridden by Search Ads 360.
• Floodlight conversion data will appear in Microsoft Advertising conversion columns, except in these cases:
  • The campaign is already using Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding with a different conversion goal in Microsoft Advertising.
  • The campaign in Search Ads 360 includes a non-Floodlight goal.
  • Unsupported campaign type

Learn more about what conversion data is shared with Microsoft Advertising.

Turn off Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in Search Ads 360 bid strategies

If you’d like to remove a campaign from Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in the Search Ads 360 UI, remove the campaign from the bid strategy or clear the “Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding” checkbox in the bid strategy.

Before deactivating Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in an active bid strategy, take steps to minimize performance fluctuations. Consider temporarily applying Intra-day bidding limits in the "Intraday advanced options'' section of your bid strategy. Review and set an appropriate bid limit based on your historic performance. This can help stabilize performance as you transition away from auction-time bidding.