Microsoft Advertising’s October 1 Max CPC Change: Audit Imports and Bidding
Microsoft Advertising will make a bidding-setting change on October 1, 2026: Max CPC will no longer be available when creating new non-portfolio campaigns that use Maximize Conversions with Target CPA, Maximize Conversion Value with Target ROAS, or Maximize Clicks.
According to Microsoft Advertising’s August 2026 product announcement, qualifying campaigns created before October 1, 2026, that already use Max CPC will keep the setting. Max CPC also remains available for new and existing campaigns using portfolio bid strategies.
This is a platform-setting change, not a guarantee that every campaign will immediately gain or lose performance. The practical deadline is an account review: determine which campaigns will be created manually, imported from Google Ads, or modified by a recurring synchronization job.
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Why Google Ads imports belong in the review
Microsoft’s Google Ads Import technical guide describes both one-time and recurring imports. Available schedules include now, once, daily, weekly, monthly, and automatic imports. The API documentation also distinguishes between imports scheduled for an individual Microsoft Advertising account and workflows managed in a manager-account context.
Import behavior is configurable, but it is not necessarily a one-time copy. Microsoft documents options that can affect existing budgets, bids, bid strategies, audience targets, conversion goals, URLs, and campaign status. Some options are enabled by default, and Microsoft notes that the documented option list is not a complete list of every item the service may support over time.
That creates a straightforward operational risk: someone makes a deliberate Microsoft-side change, then a later Google Ads import updates the same setting. In the wrong account, a recurring import can also create or change campaigns under an unexpected source-and-destination pairing.
Do not assume that an imported Google Ads campaign will behave identically in Microsoft Advertising. The import process maps supported entities into Microsoft’s campaign structure. It does not guarantee identical bidding logic, audience coverage, conversion volume, or efficiency.
What to do next
- Inventory every active import. Record the Google Ads source account, Microsoft Advertising destination account, import owner, frequency, next scheduled run, and whether the workflow is managed at the account or manager-account level.
- Separate campaign types and dates. For each affected campaign, document whether it is new or existing, non-portfolio or portfolio, and whether Max CPC is part of the intended configuration. Do not create campaigns early solely to preserve a setting without a documented business reason.
- Assign ownership by setting. Decide whether Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising owns budgets, bids, bid strategies, campaign status, audience targets, URLs, and conversion goals. Record the decision before enabling recurring sync.
- Review import permissions. Before the next run, inspect controls for updating existing budgets, bids, bid strategies, audience targets, conversion goals, URLs, and statuses. Disable permissions that conflict with the way your team manages Microsoft Advertising.
- Validate conversion inputs. Confirm that the Microsoft conversion goals attached to automated bidding represent the intended business outcome and that conversion values are being recorded consistently. A Target CPA or Target ROAS strategy depends on the quality and scope of the data it receives.
- Review results after each import. Check warnings, errors, created campaigns, changed settings, and paused or newly enabled entities. Microsoft’s technical documentation describes import-result and entity-mapping workflows that can help reconcile source and destination accounts.
The best time to audit is before October 1, 2026, and before the next scheduled import or campaign launch. Treat recurring synchronization as an active deployment process, not as a harmless backup. Test the intended Microsoft setup, confirm who owns each setting, and verify that automated bidding is evaluating the right goals.
Sources
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