• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 9, 2025

The National Advertising Division (NAD), part of the BBB National Programs, has questioned several productivity claims Microsoft had made related to its 365 Copilot suite of applications for the enterprise market.

The move is part of NAD’s routine monitoring program. It reviews claims, expressed or implied, related to advertising and marketing practices. In this case, the NAD analyzed claims, words and phrases on Microsoft’s website from November 2023.

Claims were related to Business Chat, but applied to all applications in the suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

NAD uses minute tactics to analyze how words and phrases are relayed in specific context to determine validity or misuse.

NAD approved Microsoft’s claim that Copilot can generate, summarize, and rewrite from files, including its capacity to “synthesize and summarize large amounts of data,” as well as brainstorm and draft content in Business Chat, and to draft outlines for PowerPoint presentations.

In another claim, the NAD found that although Microsoft provided what the organization called “reasonable support,” limitations for the Copilot’s functions were not disclosed directly in the claims, and the limitations did not impact how consumers use Copilot.

While the use of the word “seamlessly” and phrase “in the flow of work” reasonably conveyed specific actions across apps and how Microsoft Copilot claimed an uninterrupted or continuous experience with less required manual steps, the NAD did not believe, based on the context, that consumers understood the differences in functions -- specifically as it related to Business Chat.

Microsoft provided evidence to demonstrate that Copilot helps users “get up to speed in less time,” “carry out specific goals and tasks” in Word and other apps, and “ground… prompts in work and web data.”

The NAD, however, determined that Business Chat could not generate a document in other applications, as manual steps are required to produce the same results as Copilot in a specific Microsoft 365 app.

Based on that finding, NAD recommended Microsoft modify its advertising to clearly and conspicuously disclose any material limitations related to how Business Chat assists users.

Productivity and return on investment were under NAD’s microscope. The organization found that although Microsoft’s study demonstrates a perception of productivity, it does not completely fit the claim.

The claim asserted that “67%, 70%, and 75% of users say they are more productive” after 6, 10, and over 10 weeks based on the Copilot Usage in the Workplace Study showing perceived productivity gains over time.

Microsoft had already discontinued certain productivity claims prior to NAD’s inquiry, and appreciates participating in the process to clarify claims, the company told the NAD.