Microsoft Audience Network
What AdGradr checks
Section titled “What AdGradr checks”AdGradr detects whether your Search campaigns are opted into the Microsoft Audience Network (MSAN). MSAN places native ads on MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Edge, and other Microsoft-owned properties. The key issue: Bing auto-enables MSAN on Search campaigns by default, and most advertisers never realize their Search budget is funding native display placements.
AdGradr flags accounts where MSAN is enabled on Search campaigns with no separate performance tracking (the most significant finding), or where MSAN is enabled but consuming a small portion of campaign spend (a lesser flag). Accounts with MSAN disabled or running in dedicated Audience campaigns pass this check.
Why this matters
Section titled “Why this matters”MSAN and Search are fundamentally different channels. Search captures active intent. MSAN serves native ads to passive browsers reading news or checking email. Mixing the two in a single campaign makes it impossible to evaluate either channel. Your Search CPA might look great while MSAN burns budget, or MSAN might actually perform but you would never know because the data is blended.
This has no Google Ads equivalent. Google does not auto-opt Search campaigns into the Display Network (that was the old “Search with Display select” setting, now retired). On Bing, this is the default behavior and catches most advertisers off guard.
What good looks like
Section titled “What good looks like”- MSAN explicitly disabled on all Search campaigns via the campaign settings (“Ad distribution” set to “Bing, AOL, and Yahoo search (owned and operated) only”).
- If you want MSAN traffic, run it in dedicated Audience campaigns with their own budget and conversion tracking.
- Segmented reporting so you can compare Search vs. MSAN performance independently.
Common mistakes
Section titled “Common mistakes”- Not knowing MSAN is enabled. This is the default setting. If you never changed it, your Search campaigns are running on MSAN right now.
- Assuming MSAN traffic behaves like Search. MSAN click-through rates are lower and conversion rates are typically 50-70% below Search. Blending these metrics makes Search look worse than it is.
- Leaving MSAN on because “more reach is better.” Reach without measurement is not a strategy. Undifferentiated extra impressions dilute your data.
- Importing Google campaigns without checking. Google imports carry over campaign settings but MSAN defaults to ON regardless of your original Google configuration.
How to fix it
Section titled “How to fix it”- Go to Campaign Settings > Ad distribution for each Search campaign.
- Change the setting to show ads on “Bing, AOL, and Yahoo search (owned and operated) only.”
- If you want to test MSAN, create a separate Audience campaign with its own budget.
- Review the last 30 days of data segmented by network to see how much spend went to MSAN.
When to ignore this check
Section titled “When to ignore this check”If you are intentionally running MSAN within Search campaigns and have confirmed the performance meets your goals through segmented reporting, this flag is informational. Some e-commerce accounts find MSAN remarketing profitable enough to keep enabled.
Want someone to handle this? The Click Makers team manages Microsoft Ads accounts for companies spending $5K+/month. Get in touch to see if we are a fit.