Performance Max on Microsoft Advertising

What Is Performance Max?

Performance Max (PMax) is Microsoft Advertising’s AI-driven campaign type that automatically distributes ads across the entire Microsoft network — Bing Search, Microsoft Audience Network, LinkedIn, Edge, MSN, Outlook, Xbox and Copilot. Rather than managing individual placements, PMax uses machine learning to find the highest-converting opportunities across all channels simultaneously.

Why PMax Matters in 2026

PMax is the primary delivery mechanism for Copilot-specific ad formats. Showroom Ads and Copilot Checkout integrations are only accessible through PMax campaigns. This makes PMax not just a media efficiency play, but a gateway to Microsoft’s most advanced AI advertising capabilities.

Where Your Ads Appear

PMax campaigns distribute across:

• Bing Search: Traditional search ads for high-intent queries
• Microsoft Copilot: Ads in AI conversations, including Showroom Ads
• Microsoft Audience Network: Display and native across MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Edge
• LinkedIn: Professional audience targeting via Microsoft’s LinkedIn integration
• Xbox & Gaming: Reach gaming audiences where relevant

Step-by-Step Campaign Setup

1. Campaign objective: Choose Sales, Leads, or Website Traffic
2. Budget: Start with a budget 3–5× your target CPA to allow the algorithm to learn
3. Asset groups: Create themed asset groups (by product category or audience)
4. Creative assets: Upload headlines (min 3), descriptions (min 2), images (min 3 sizes), logos, and optionally video
5. Audience signals: Provide first-party customer lists or website visitor segments to accelerate learning
6. Product feed: Link your Microsoft Merchant Center feed for Showroom Ads eligibility
7. Bidding: Target CPA or Target ROAS. Use “Maximise Conversions” until you have 30+ conversions/month

Asset Groups & Creative

Asset groups are the creative containers within PMax. Each group should represent a coherent theme — product category, audience segment, or offer. The algorithm tests combinations of your headlines, descriptions, images and videos to find the best-performing mix.

Use Microsoft’s Copilot in Advertising Platform to generate ad copy. Priceline reported a 10% CTR lift from Copilot-generated copy versus manually written ads.

Optimisation & Insights

PMax’s asset performance report (under Ads & Extensions → Asset Performance) rates each asset as Best, Good, Low, or Learning. Prioritise:

• Replace “Low” rated assets immediately
• Add new creative variants every 4–6 weeks to prevent fatigue
• Use the Performance Comparison tool (launched November 2025) to benchmark periods
• Monitor Copilot-specific placement performance separately via the placement breakdown report