About using Search Ads 360 bid strategies with Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding

Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding (also called “Microsoft automated bidding”) is a Microsoft Advertising feature that uses deep analysis of search patterns, clicks, and conversions to manage your bids effectively and automatically, while still respecting your budget limit.

Learn more about automated bidding in Microsoft Advertising Help Center.

How they work together

A Search Ads 360 bid strategy analyzes the performance of the campaigns in its portfolio and sets bids, targets and/or budgets to maximize return-on-investment (ROI).

Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding optimizes bids in real-time using data-driven insights at the auction level. By activating this feature, advertisers can enhance their performance on Microsoft campaigns while maintaining the incremental performance of their existing cross-channel and cross-engine bid strategies, powered by Google AI in Search Ads 360.

When Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding is enabled, a Search Ads 360 bid strategy utilizes data from your Search Ads 360 sub-manager account to optimize performance. It sets return on investment (ROI) targets and/or adjusts budgets to achieve the bid strategy's goal. These targets are calculated by analyzing performance across all campaigns in the bid strategy, maximizing your overall return on investment.

You can enable Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in the following Search Ads 360 bid strategies and budget bid strategies:

• Search Ads 360 bid strategies
  • Target CPA
  • Target ROAS
• Search Ads 360 budget bid strategies
  • Maximize conversions

You can enable Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in the following campaign types:

• Search
• Shopping
• Dynamic search ads

The following SA360 bidding features are also supported:

• Custom Variable Adjustments (CVA)

Data Exclusions and Seasonality Adjustments created in Search Ads 360 are compatible with Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding. However, for these features to function properly, you must set up the events in both Search Ads 360 and Microsoft Advertising platforms.

Related Links

• Search Ads 360 Seasonality Adjustments, Search Ads 360 Data Exclusions
• Microsoft Advertising Seasonality Adjustments, Microsoft Advertising Data Exclusions

Conversions are shared

Search Ads 360 and Microsoft Advertising uses different bidding systems, and so Search Ads 360 Floodlight conversion data is shared with Microsoft Advertising (with your consent) to enable both bidding systems to use the same conversion data.

The shared Floodlight conversions will appear as ‘Offline conversions’ under Conversion goals in Microsoft Advertising.

To use a conversion goal for bid strategy optimization, the action optimization level must be set to primary in the selected account-default or campaign-specific goal. Or, you can select a custom goal in a campaign. The action optimization level for conversion goals in a custom goal can be a mix of primary and secondary conversion goals. Note that custom goals aren’t recommended for bid strategy optimization. Learn more About conversion goals.

When conversion sharing is enabled between Search Ads 360 and Microsoft Advertising, the relevant Floodlight data is exported to Microsoft Advertising.

When a campaign is added to Search Ads 360 Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding bid strategy, the bid strategy in Microsoft will be changed to the Search Ads 360 created bid strategy. Additionally, Floodlight conversion goals for these campaigns will be set as campaign-level goals in Microsoft, overriding any previous settings.

Search Ads 360 currently doesn’t alter:

1. Microsoft Advertising account-level goals.
2. Campaigns using Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding and not managed by an auction-time bidding-enabled Search Ads 360 bid strategy.

Note: Only Floodlight conversions are supported for Microsoft auction-time bidding. If non-Floodlight conversions are set in goals, the Microsoft bid strategy won’t be created, and will continue to use Intraday bidding in Search Ads 360 for supported campaign types.

Summary of steps to enable bid strategies and budget bid strategies to use conversion data

To report on conversion goals and enable bid strategies to use the performance history for optimization with Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding, you’re required to do the following:

1. Review your conversion goal configuration. Ensure only Floodlights are selected in the campaigns you’d like to activate for Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding. You should review all primary and secondary conversions in your account-default goals as well as any campaign-level conversions.
   1. Only Floodlight conversions are supported for Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding.
2. Enable conversion-data sharing. Follow the below steps on how to enable conversion-data sharing:
   1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
   2. Navigate to a sub-manager account, where you want to enable conversion-data sharing.
   3. On the toolbar, click Tools and settings .
   4. Click Settings.
   5. Expand the Share conversions section.
   6. Within the "Share conversions" section, select the “Share all Floodlight and other conversion data related to Google Ads with all Google Ads accounts linked to this Search Ads 360 sub-manager account.” checkbox.
   7. Click Save.
   2. Conversion-data sharing is required if you want to use Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding.
   3. Microsoft Advertising recommends waiting 2 weeks plus your conversion delay before activating Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding in your bid strategy (Step 4).
3. Add the Microsoft Advertising campaign to a bid strategy or budget bid strategy.
   1. Do any of the following:
      1. Add the campaigns in the portfolio bid strategy settings.
      2. Select the bid strategy in each campaign’s settings.
      3. Add campaign to budget bid strategy.
4. Activate the “Microsoft Advertising auction-time bidding” option in a bid strategy or in a budget bid strategy in a plan.

Learn more about sharing Search Ads 360 conversions with Microsoft Advertising.

Microsoft auction-time bidding only applies to the Microsoft Advertising campaigns within a bid strategy, even when the strategy includes campaigns from other supported advertising platforms. The bid strategy will still use the performance history of the conversions to set bids in all of the campaigns.