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Manual bidding will be discontinued for new campaigns on the Microsoft Audience Network beginning April 24th. From this date, all current image and feed campaigns employing a manual cost per click (CPC) bid strategy will be transitioned to Enhanced CPC (eCPC). This shift is expected to be finalized by April 28th.

Timeline for the transition. The shift from manual bidding to eCPC starts on April 24th. New campaigns on the Microsoft Audience Network will no longer have the option for manual bidding. Starting April 24th, Microsoft will begin upgrading all existing campaigns on the network to eCPC. By April 28th, the transition will be complete, and throughout this week, campaigns using manual CPC will be converted to eCPC.

Good to know. This modification only affects image and feed campaigns with manual CPC and does not impact video campaigns using manual CPC or campaigns with manual cost per view (CPV) or cost per mille (CPM) bid strategies. The migration applies to standalone audience campaigns featuring image and feed ads.

Search campaigns extended to the Microsoft Audience Network, which already utilize eCPC and our comprehensive range of automated bidding solutions, will not be affected by this change.

Best practices. Microsoft says there’s no action required from you to prepare for this change. However, there are some areas that you can optimize to ensure you’re set up for success:

• Conversion tracking: Microsoft recommends implementing eCPC alongside conversion tracking. Ensure that your Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag is present on all pages of your website and that your conversion goals are properly set up. Although not required, this approach can enhance performance by providing additional signals.
• Offline conversions: If your strategy depends on offline conversions, Microsoft advises uploading your offline conversion data daily. This can be accomplished through a scheduled recurring import.
• Attribution model: Try switching your conversion goal attribution to “last touch.” This adjustment enables you to optimize automated bidding based on both click-based and view-through conversions (conversions resulting from ad impressions). Users don’t always click on native ads immediately; however, seeing the ad significantly influences their behavior and journey toward conversion.

Dig deeper. You can review the announcement from Microsoft here.

Why we care. Adopting eCPC and following the suggested practices can lead to better campaign performance. Automated bidding strategies, such as eCPC, use machine learning to optimize bids in real-time, resulting in more efficient ad spend and potentially higher return on investment (ROI).

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