Microsoft Audience Network: Native Ads Beyond Search

Microsoft Audience Network: Native Ads Beyond Search

Most startups allocate their entire paid media budget to Google and Meta, then wonder why their CPCs keep climbing. The Microsoft Audience Network is one of the least crowded distribution channels in B2B and SaaS advertising right now — and most of your competitors have not touched it.

This post breaks down what the Microsoft Audience Network actually is, what campaign types and placements are available, what benchmarks to expect, and how to run a low-risk test without blowing your budget.

What the Microsoft Audience Network Actually Is

The Microsoft Audience Network is a native advertising platform that extends your Microsoft Ads campaigns beyond Bing search results and into display placements across Microsoft-owned properties. That includes MSN, Outlook.com, Microsoft Start, and a network of third-party publisher sites — all served through Microsoft's own first-party data graph.

What separates it from a generic display network is the data underneath it. Microsoft has direct access to LinkedIn profile data through the LinkedIn integration, plus behavioral signals from Bing search, Windows usage, and Office 365. That combination lets you reach audiences by job title, company size, and industry in a way that Google Display Network cannot replicate without third-party cookies. For B2B advertisers targeting professionals — a core audience for most venture-backed startups — that data advantage is material.

Unlike programmatic display, the Audience Network uses native ad formats: the ads match the editorial style of the placement, which means users engage with them at higher rates than standard banner ads. Native ads on the Audience Network blend into the content feed on MSN and Microsoft Start, where your target reader is already in a passive-consumption mindset.

Campaign Types and Placements Available

The Microsoft Audience Network supports three core ad formats, each suited to different funnel stages and objectives.

Image-based native ads are the most widely used. They appear in content feeds on MSN, Outlook, and Microsoft Start with a headline, description, image, and advertiser name. They render inline with editorial content and drive strong click-through rates for awareness and mid-funnel traffic campaigns.

Feed-based ads (responsive audience ads) pull product or content attributes from your feed and dynamically assemble the ad. These are well-suited for ecommerce and content-heavy sites where you want Microsoft to optimize ad assembly automatically.

Video audience ads run natively within Microsoft's premium publisher placements. They are currently the least saturated format on the network, which keeps CPMs low relative to equivalent placements on YouTube or Meta.

Placements fall into two buckets:

You control placement exclusion at the campaign level. For most startup advertisers, starting with Microsoft-owned properties only and expanding to the partner network after you have conversion data is the lower-risk path.

One targeting capability worth calling out: LinkedIn profile targeting is available directly within Microsoft Ads. You can layer job function, seniority, company name, and industry segments on top of audience-based targeting without leaving the platform. This makes the Audience Network the only non-LinkedIn channel where LinkedIn professional attributes drive your bid targeting.

Performance Benchmarks and What to Expect

The Microsoft Audience Network consistently delivers lower CPCs than Google Display Network and significantly lower CPMs than Meta — but the trade-off is lower scale and a longer ramp time to find what works.

Across B2B SaaS advertisers, typical benchmarks look like this:

• CPM: $5–$12 on Microsoft-owned properties; $3–$8 on the partner network
• CPC: $0.50–$2.50 for image-based native, depending on audience and vertical
• CTR: 0.15%–0.60% for native image ads; higher for video formats in low-competition verticals
• CVR: Lower than branded search, but comparable to Google Display when the landing page matches the audience's awareness stage

The lower CTR compared to search is expected — these are native display placements, not bottom-of-funnel search intent. The value is in reaching professional audiences at a lower cost per impression than Meta or LinkedIn Ads, with first-party data targeting that holds up in a cookieless environment.

The Audience Network rarely delivers overnight results. Give campaigns at least 4–6 weeks to exit the learning phase before drawing conclusions.

Where the Audience Network consistently over-indexes is remarketing. If you have LinkedIn-matched audiences or CRM lists uploaded to Microsoft Ads, serving native ads to those audiences through the Audience Network produces much stronger ROI than cold prospecting. Re-engagement campaigns to existing website visitors also tend to perform well given the passive, content-consumption context of MSN and Outlook.

What you should not expect: the same volume as Google Search. The Audience Network is a supplementary channel, not a primary one. Treat it as a way to extend reach and stay visible between intent-driven touchpoints — not a replacement for your core search campaigns.

How to Test the Audience Network Without Overspending

The right approach is to extend an existing Microsoft Search campaign rather than build a net-new campaign from scratch.

Microsoft Ads lets you opt existing search campaigns into Audience Network distribution at the campaign level. This is a fast way to generate early data without duplicating campaign structures or ad creative. That said, keep Audience Network and Search in separate campaigns once you have enough data to optimize each independently — mixed campaigns make it hard to read performance clearly.

A structured low-risk test looks like this:

1. Start with a remarketing audience. Your existing website visitors or CRM contacts are the highest-signal audience available on the Audience Network. Start here before testing cold audiences.

2. Set a daily budget cap of $20–$40. This is enough to gather meaningful impression and click data within 2–3 weeks without committing serious spend to an unproven channel.

3. Use image-based native ads with 3–4 creative variants. Test different headlines and images. Microsoft's auto-optimization will shift delivery toward better performers once the campaign has enough data.

4. Exclude the partner network initially. Stick to Microsoft-owned properties (MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Start) until you have a baseline CPL and can evaluate whether expanding to the partner network improves or dilutes efficiency.

5. Layer LinkedIn profile targeting on your cold audience test. Once remarketing is running, add a second ad group targeting by job function and seniority. This is where the Audience Network's data advantage is most apparent and where most B2B advertisers find the best prospecting results.

6. Evaluate at 30 days, not 7. Native display campaigns need time to accumulate data and exit Microsoft's learning phase. Pulling plug at week one based on high CPCs is premature — the algorithm needs enough impressions to optimize delivery.

The most common mistake is running the Audience Network like a search campaign: tight budgets, aggressive negative keyword lists, and weekly restructuring. Native display needs breathing room. Set conservative bids, let Microsoft optimize, and review performance monthly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Microsoft Audience Network?

The Microsoft Audience Network is a native advertising platform that extends Microsoft Ads campaigns beyond Bing search into display placements on MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Start, and partner publisher sites. It uses Microsoft's first-party data — including LinkedIn profile attributes — to target professional audiences.

How Does the Microsoft Audience Network Compare to Google Display Network?

The Microsoft Audience Network has lower CPMs and less competition than Google Display Network, but also smaller scale. Its key advantage is LinkedIn-derived B2B targeting data, which lets you reach professionals by job title and company size in a way Google Display cannot match natively.

Can You Use LinkedIn Targeting Through Microsoft Ads?

Yes. Microsoft Ads includes LinkedIn profile targeting as a native feature, allowing you to segment audiences by job function, seniority, company name, and industry. This targeting is available across both Search and Audience Network campaigns.

What Budget Do You Need to Test the Microsoft Audience Network?

A daily budget of $20–$40 is enough to generate meaningful data within 2–3 weeks. Start with remarketing audiences before testing cold prospecting, and plan to evaluate performance after 30 days rather than cutting off the campaign in the first week.

Key Takeaways

• The Microsoft Audience Network serves native ads on MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Start, and partner sites, using Microsoft's own first-party data graph — including LinkedIn professional attributes.
• LinkedIn profile targeting is available directly within Microsoft Ads, making the Audience Network the only non-LinkedIn paid channel where you can target by job title, seniority, and company size at scale.
• CPMs run $5–$12 on Microsoft-owned properties — consistently lower than Meta and LinkedIn Ads for comparable B2B audiences.
• Remarketing and CRM list campaigns consistently outperform cold prospecting on the Audience Network; start there before expanding to broader audiences.
• A structured test requires only $20–$40 per day and 30 days of runway — evaluate at the end of the learning phase, not the first week.
• Treat the Audience Network as a reach-extension and remarketing channel, not a primary acquisition channel; it performs best layered on top of an existing search strategy.