Commentary

Microsoft Analyzing Features For Responsive Search Ads, Following Google's Timeline For Change

Microsoft Advertising will make responsive search ads the only search ad type that can be created or edited in standard search campaigns starting June 30, 2022, after making the decision to align with Google’s RSA strategy made in August, which also prohibits the ability to create or edit in standard search campaigns.

Existing legacy expanded text ads will still serve up in search results, but they will not become available for advertisers to edit or add.

“We’re continually refining our Responsive Search Ads capabilities, most notably with ad customizers, coming early next year,” Kevin Salat, product marketing manager at Microsoft advertising, wrote in a post.

The more advertisers in its marketplace use RSAs, the more it will enhance advertiser performance and improve the intelligence of its machine-learning models -- all benefits for advertisers.

During a virtual meeting last week, Microsoft asked users of RSA to comment on how they are preparing for the changes.

One marketer asked whether Microsoft provides an “ad strength rating” for RSAs, similar to Google. It’s on Microsoft’s product roadmap to release this feature in the near future.

Asking whether Microsoft has the same policy, he said, Google suggests that advertisers restructure ad groups to achieve a minimum of 3,000 impressions weekly to feed the AI model. Microsoft did not publicly state if it has the same policy.

One limitation in Google RSAs, per an advertiser, is that analyzing individual assets such as headlines or descriptions to determine what to optimize. Google only provides impression metrics. There is no click information. A performance metric for the entire ad is available -- but not individual assets. Impressions is the only metric available for headlines, for example.

Microsoft said this is a feature that developers at the company have been debating and discussing.  

The announcements made Tuesday also include reporting improvements for Microsoft Audience Ads with view-through conversions, In-market Audiences expansions, open beta for auto-generated remarketing lists, several Microsoft Audience Network updates and expansions, and more.

Competitive insights will become available at the multi-account level for advertisers to provide advertisers with a view of the competitive landscape, especially during the holiday season.

Beginning this month, In-market Audiences becomes available in open beta for Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. There are also new segments available for search and audience campaigns in the U.K., Australia, France, Germany and New Zealand markets.

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