Microsoft is bringing more transparency to its search advertising with a new feature that explains ad placement decisions directly in Bing results.
Details:
- The feature appears as a dropdown option next to ad URLs in Bing search results
- Currently shows varying levels of detail depending on the user or region
How it works. When users click the dropdown arrow next to a search ad’s URL, they can access a dialog box that explains why that particular advertisement was selected for display.
Barry Schwartz reports seeing only a generic “Learn how your ads are chosen” message on Search Engine Roundtable. Others, like Digital Marketer, Khushal Bherwani, report seeing detailed information including:
- Specific reasons for ad selection
- Complete advertiser details
- User-specific targeting factors
Why we care. As digital ad platforms face growing scrutiny over transparency and user privacy, Microsoft is following Google’s lead by giving users more visibility into how and why they’re seeing specific ads.
Between the lines. The inconsistent rollout suggests Microsoft is testing the feature before a wider release, possibly in response to similar transparency features Google has implemented in its search results.
What they’re saying. While Microsoft hasn’t made an official announcement about the feature, social media discussions indicate users are noticing the change and comparing it to Google’s existing ad transparency tools.
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About the author
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu’s career started with
delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna) and more.