osoft Announces Audience Network Expansion and Automotive Ads.
Microsoft just announced nine (9!) new updates. Microsoft has just posted nine (9!) new updates to their blog. Updates include new Automotive Ads and vertical-based ads. Let’s get started.
Automotive ads
Automotive Ads are specialized ad formats, which are exclusive to the auto industry. The new format of ad will include a photograph of the vehicle, year, make and model, condition, dealer site, price and a brief description. The ads will be distributed to advertisers in Latin America and Asia Pacific after a North American and Europe-wide test.
Find out more about Automotive Ads, and how to set them all up .
Vertically-based ads
Vertical ads are made from dynamic feeds. They can appear in different formats depending upon what the user is looking for. Intent data is used to create the ads. Microsoft AI uses the data feed for the information needed to display the ad. Microsoft claims the new format of ad formats will reduce the time and effort required to create and manage campaigns.
Find out more about Automotive Ads, and how to set them all up .
Updates to the Audience Network
Market expansions
The Microsoft Audience Network connects advertisers with MSN, Outlook and Microsoft Edge publishers. Microsoft has expanded to 64 countries, and more will follow in the coming year.
The new ad formats
Dynamic Remarketing will now be available in other verticals than retail. Dynamic Remarketing can be used for auto, travel and event ads. Advertisers will now have two options for Dynamic remarketing once the dynamic feed has been set up.
- Standard Universal Event Tracking, (UET). You can send ads to users who visited your website using the UET tag. If the product ID is present, the tag won’t need to be updated. If the URL contains the product ID, Microsoft will be able to tell if a visitor visited the website.
- UET with additional parameters. Advertisers will have access to more people if they update their UET tag. These parameters will allow you to:
- General visitors
- Product searchers
- Product viewers
- Cart abandoners
- Buyers from the past
Other bidding solutions
There are three options for bidding video ads.
A pilot program for automated bidding was also launched. To maximize conversions for audience campaigns, you can use Enhanced CPC. Microsoft claims that there will soon be more automated bidding options.
Integrations of customer data platforms for Customer Match
Microsoft last month announced they would be expanding Customer Match to other markets. They announced today that you can use the Customer Data Platform to connect to Microsoft Advertising to import customer lists. Ampertiy, Adobe Ad Cloud For Search are the current integrations. Soon, more integrations will become available.
Targeting new markets with expanded audience
In-market Audiences now available in:
Latin America: Aruba, Bahamas, Bolivia, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Montserrat, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
Asia Pacific, Brunei. Fiji. Guam. Maldives. Guam.
Similar Audiences now available in more countries
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hong Kong, Iceland. Japan, Montenegro. North Macedonia. Serbia. South Africa. Taiwan.
Smart Campaigns expands to new markets
Microsoft is currently piloting new markets in France and Germany, Ireland, Italy. The Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore are also being considered.
Updates on reporting experience
Advertisers will now have access to all reports via a drop-down menu. These reports are available on the updated landing page grid. To quickly find the reports you are looking for, filter the grid.
Reminder from RSA
Microsoft has also reminded users that the month of August is the last month for you to migrate your Expanded Text Ads to Responsive search Ads. RSAs will become the only type of search ad that can be edited or created in standard search campaigns starting on August 29. You can still edit and add existing Expanded Text Ads, but they won’t work in standard search campaigns.
The entire Microsoft announcement, including all updates can be accessed.
Why do we care? Microsoft keeps releasing new products and updates, giving Google a tough time. Microsoft and their partner network reach approximately 724 million users per month. These new features could prove to be beneficial for advertisers searching for Google alternatives or expanding their impression share.
Search Engine Land: New!
