Introduction

As of March 2016, the default geo-target behavior for Microsoft Advertising has changed for new campaigns that are created in the Platform.

Below we'll explain the most up-to-date behavior, and what to expect when working with geo-targeting and Microsoft Advertising. 

Microsoft Advertising geo-targeting behavior

As of March 2016, for each new Microsoft Advertising campaign created in single-edit or bulk, the geo-target will be set to match the Platform client account’s (PCA's) locale. For example, the locale might be English - United States, in which case the geo-target would be United States.

To add an extra layer of context, the locale is set at the client level, and only one locale can be specified for each PCA. Existing geo-targeting settings for Microsoft Advertising campaigns will not change, as is the case for the default behavior (and geo-targets) for any other publisher. These geo-targets can further be edited or managed as needed through the usual workflow in the Platform. 

This most recent update to geo-targeting behavior for Microsoft Advertising is beneficial to your workflow for a number of reasons, including the following: 

• New campaigns will no longer target the world. In fact, we don't recommend that this behavior should ever be used intentionally. 

• If your geo-targets usually match your locale, you won't have to make any changes at all. 

Important notes

• This behavior does not impact existing Microsoft Advertising campaigns, existing or new Microsoft Advertising groups, default behavior of other publishers, Smart Sync or Cloner behavior – or behavior for any other Microsoft Advertising campaign default value.