Is Your New Microsoft Ads Account Not Spending? It Might Not Be the "Learning Phase"

Many media buyers face a frustrating roadblock when importing Google Search campaigns into Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads). Despite healthy search volumes, competitive bids, and "Eligible" campaign statuses, the daily budget barely budges. When reaching out to support, the standard response is often: "Wait a few weeks; the system is still in the learning phase." While machine learning does require time, "learning" should not be a catch-all excuse for delivery issues.

Take a recent brand campaign as an example. The advertiser used the Maximize Clicks bidding strategy. Despite clear search volume for the brand terms, the ads generated almost zero impressions. However, once the strategy was switched to Enhanced CPC (eCPC) with nearly identical bids, the campaign immediately began entering and winning auctions. Why does this happen, and how should media buyers diagnose it?

1. Evaluate Bidding Strategy Before Increasing Budgets

Maximize Clicks relies entirely on the algorithm to determine bids for each auction. Enhanced CPC is different: the media buyer sets a baseline keyword bid, and Microsoft Ads dynamically adjusts it based on conversion likelihood. Microsoft explicitly states that eCPC is supported for Search campaigns and does not mandate active conversion tracking.

For a brand-new campaign with zero historical data, eCPC is invaluable. It helps you quickly diagnose whether the issue is a genuine lack of search volume or simply the algorithm bidding too conservatively to enter the auction.

2. Inspect Delivery Status and Editorial Reviews

If your keywords have search volume but zero impressions, you must check for underlying delivery issues. Look for statuses like Delivering Soon, Approved Limited, Editorial Review, or bids that are too low.

Microsoft Ads review processes can take anywhere from one to several business days. Additionally, if your bid is too low, your ads may fail to secure first-page placement, resulting in zero impressions. Do not assume a campaign is fully active just because the status toggle is green.

3. Complete Advertiser Identity Verification

New Microsoft Ads accounts often require advertiser identity verification. Depending on the target market or payment method, failing to complete this verification can pause ad delivery entirely. A status of "Enabled" at the campaign level does not guarantee that the account is fully cleared to serve ads at the account level.

4. Stop Treating Microsoft Ads as a Carbon Copy of Google Ads

While automated bidding needs data—Microsoft recommends 1 to 2 weeks of learning and roughly 30 conversions before evaluating strategies like Maximize Conversions or tCPA—brand campaigns behave differently.

The goal of Maximize Clicks for brand terms is simply to capture high-intent traffic. If a brand keyword with proven search volume gets zero impressions for several days, waiting a month is counterproductive. Switching to eCPC is a faster, more reliable way to test auction competitiveness.

The Bottom Line

When troubleshooting a stagnant Microsoft Ads account, follow this diagnostic checklist: Is there search volume? Is the ad eligible? Is the bid competitive enough to enter the auction? Only after answering these questions should you attribute the delay to the algorithm's learning phase. "Wait and see" is sometimes the answer, but it should never be your only troubleshooting step.