Bidding Update at Microsoft Advertising

Automation is becoming increasingly important. That’s why Microsoft announced it will replace manual bidding strategies with so-called “Enhanced CPC”, or eCPC for short, from March 2021.

Who does the change affect?

Don’t worry, the change does not necessarily affect you. If you are already using automated bidding strategies, you’re off the hook. This is the case for example with target ROAS and target CPA. But if you don’t use them yet, all Search, Shopping and Dynamic Search Ads are affected. However, you still get a little grace period for the changeover: From April 5, the manual CPC option is no longer selectable or available. After April 30, all campaigns in which you have not yet made any changes or adjustments will be dropped. This results in the following timeline:

Of course, this may seems like there’s actually no reason to hurry – especially because Microsoft will automatically switch the campaigns to eCPC on April 30 in the worst case. But you’re missing out one thing: You should test in advance what changes the automated bid settings will bring about. That way you have enough lead time to adjust your strategy.

How do you know if your campaign is ready for eCPC?

Do you want to switch your Microsoft Advertising campaigns? Microsoft has provided you with a decision tree that shows you which bidding strategy is best for you. So, with the help of this chart, you can find out if your campaign is ready for enhanced CPC or what alternative bidding strategy you might want to use.

What are the benefits of the Bidding Update?

According to Microsoft, the automated bidding strategy will help drive more conversions. If the CPA remains the same, the company even talks about 5-10%. The following auction signals also help you to keep a better overview of your competitors:

• Browser
• Bid modifications
• Search queries
• etc.