Key takeaways
- Microsoft Ads API now gives advertisers a clearer link between search term, delivered headline, final URL and performance data.
- The Search Term Landing Page report is valuable because it exposes query to page mismatches that blended campaign metrics hide.
- Campaign-level PMax device exclusions let advertisers apply business rules before spend enters weak auctions.
- LinkedIn segment support is useful for B2B only when it is tied to qualified lead quality and sales value.
- Advertisers should turn the new API data into routing, exclusion, copy and landing page decisions, not another passive dashboard.
Microsoft Ads API changes matter because they attack the part of automation advertisers distrust most: the gap between the search term, the advert served, and the page that actually got the click. That gap is where budget leaks hide. If you cannot see which message matched which landing page, you cannot prove whether automation is helping intent or smearing spend across weak journeys.
For UK advertisers already wrestling with automated search products, this is a useful shift. Microsoft is giving serious teams more of the raw material needed to challenge machine-led delivery. The same pressure is already visible in AI Max reporting fixes, where clearer query, asset and landing page data changes the questions advertisers ask before they scale.
The important point is not that Microsoft has added another API feature. The point is that better reporting only creates value when advertisers turn it into rules, exclusions, landing page tests and budget decisions. Otherwise it becomes another export nobody acts on.
What has changed in Microsoft Ads API reporting
Microsoft has added a Search Term Landing Page report, campaign-level device exclusions for Performance Max, and API support for LinkedIn segment targeting. The Search Term Landing Page report connects four things that normally sit in different corners of the account: the search term, the delivered headline, the final URL, and the performance metrics.
That matters because Microsoft Ads API users can now pull intent, message and destination into one reporting layer. Instead of seeing that a campaign spent money and generated conversions, teams can inspect whether a query was matched to the right headline and whether the click landed on a page that matched the promise.
For Performance Max, campaign-level device exclusions let advertisers exclude computers, smartphones or tablets. That gives account managers a direct control that automated campaign types have often lacked. LinkedIn segment support adds another audience layer for developers and advertisers building more advanced Microsoft Ads workflows.
Why deeper search reporting changes the money flow
The commercial value sits in diagnosis. A bad search journey does not always look bad at campaign level. It hides inside acceptable blended CPA, average conversion rate and broad ROAS. When you split search term, delivered headline and final URL, the weak journeys start to show themselves.
Here is the mechanism. A user searches for a specific product, service or business problem. Microsoft serves a headline that partially matches the need, then sends the click to a broad category page. The user has to work too hard. They bounce, return to search, click a competitor or convert later through brand. Your reporting credits the first campaign with traffic, but the cost of the mismatch sits in lower conversion rate and weaker lead quality.
That is why this Microsoft Ads API update is more useful for advertisers with messy landing page estates than for those with perfect campaign structure. Ecommerce accounts with near-duplicate product categories, B2B accounts with one generic service page, and lead-gen accounts using one landing page for several intents will get the clearest benefit. The report exposes where automation is stitching together journeys that look plausible in the platform but fail for the user.
Performance Max device exclusions change a different part of the cost equation. If smartphones produce cheap form fills but poor sales conversations, automated bidding still sees volume unless your offline conversion data is strong. Excluding a device at campaign level stops spend before it enters the auction. That is cleaner than asking a bidding model to infer quality from incomplete signals.
This is also why advertisers should not treat Microsoft PMax as a side project. Our Q2 2026 PMax analysis found that about 32% of UK Google Ads spend now goes to Performance Max across 34 of 78 accounts, with reported ROAS at 4.75 versus Search at 2.98 like-for-like. The caveat matters: reported PMax ROAS is flattered by brand and Shopping cannibalisation, the API cannot prove incrementality, and the ROAS itself rests on the same conversion value that is often distorted. Microsoft advertisers face the same strategic issue. Automation needs controls, not admiration.
PPC Geeks’ View
The specific problem advertisers will face is false confidence. The new reporting will make accounts look more explainable, but the data still needs commercial interpretation. A search term landing on the wrong URL is not just a reporting issue. It is a wasted auction, a weaker Quality Score signal over time, and a bidding system learning from compromised outcomes.
We see this most often in lead-gen accounts where broad match, imported conversions and thin offline feedback run together. The campaign reports enquiries. Sales says the leads are vague, early-stage or outside the service area. When we inspect the journey, the issue is rarely one bad keyword. It is a chain: loose query match, generic ad copy, broad landing page, then a conversion action that treats every form fill as equal.
More API visibility does not make automation accountable. It gives advertisers the evidence to make it accountable.
— May Dayang, Digital Marketing Coordinator, PPC Geeks
The immediate takeaway is simple: use the Search Term Landing Page report to find mismatched journeys, then change the campaign structure or landing page routing. Do not file the report in a dashboard and call it progress.
This is exactly the type of issue we look for in a free Google Ads audit, especially where automation, tracking or campaign structure is affecting performance. The same thinking applies whether you are running Microsoft Ads directly, using scripts, or working with our Google Ads agency team across a wider paid search setup.
What advertisers should do next
Start by treating this as an action list, not a reporting upgrade. Pulling more data through the Microsoft Ads API only improves performance when someone makes a decision from it.
1. Build a search to page mismatch report
Create a report that groups search terms by delivered headline, final URL, spend, conversions and conversion value. Sort by spend first, then isolate rows where intent and destination do not match. Examples include emergency searches landing on generic service pages, product-specific searches landing on a parent category, and local searches landing on national copy.
For each mismatch, assign one fix: change final URL routing, split an ad group, add exclusions, rewrite the headline, or build a dedicated landing page. If the row has spend but no conversions, do not wait for more data when the intent mismatch is clear.
2. Use PMax device exclusions as business rules
Do not exclude devices because a chart looks weak for seven days. Exclude devices where the economics are structurally wrong. For example, if mobile enquiries convert to pipeline at half the rate of desktop and your CRM confirms it, separate the campaign or remove smartphones from that PMax campaign. If tablet traffic is low volume and erratic, remove it from budget-sensitive tests so the learning period is not polluted.
This is where your conversion setup matters. If Microsoft Ads only sees form submissions, it will optimise towards form submissions. If your CRM imports qualified leads, sales value or closed revenue, device decisions become commercial rather than cosmetic. Our guide to Bing conversion tracking is the foundation work to complete before trusting any device-level judgement.
3. Keep LinkedIn segments tied to sales reality
LinkedIn segment targeting is powerful because professional attributes change B2B search economics. A finance director and a student can search the same phrase and mean very different things. The mistake is to add LinkedIn segments as decoration. Build segment tests around job function, industry or company size only where your sales team agrees those attributes predict value.
Create two campaign variants for a high-value B2B offer: one using standard search intent, one layered with a tightly defined LinkedIn segment. Hold budgets steady for 14 days, then compare qualified lead rate, not just form fills. Kill the weaker variant if sales quality does not improve. The same discipline applies to any lead source, as we set out in our take on lead quality data for UK B2B.
4. Update dashboards so the new data drives decisions
Add three fields to your paid search dashboard: search term, delivered headline and final URL. Then add a manual status column with four choices: keep, reroute, rewrite or exclude. That turns an API report into a workflow.
If you already use PMax heavily, apply the same discipline to asset and landing page checks. Our Performance Max asset guide explains why weak creative inputs and broad landing pages make automation look busier than it is. Microsoft advertisers should take the same view: cleaner inputs first, scale second.
Search Engine Land’s write-up covers the three API additions in more detail, in its report on the latest Microsoft Advertising API update. Developers should also check the Microsoft Advertising API release notes before building against the update, then validate report fields against the Microsoft Advertising reporting reference.
What this means for your campaigns
Microsoft is moving in the right direction: more automation, but also more inspection and more controls. That is the right trade. Advertisers do not need another black box that promises efficiency whilst hiding the mechanics. They need visibility into where spend goes, why a click happened, and whether the landing page gave that click a fair chance to convert.
The Microsoft Ads API update gives capable teams better evidence. The winners will be the advertisers who use it to cut waste quickly: reroute poor journeys, apply device exclusions where the business case is proven, and build LinkedIn targeting around real sales value.
If your reporting still stops at campaign CPA, you are already behind the level of detail automation now requires. Fix the journey between query, ad and landing page before adding more budget.
Book a free PPC audit to surface the practical gaps if you are unsure how exposed your campaigns are. For the developer detail, see how to make your first Microsoft Advertising API call.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main Microsoft Ads API change for advertisers?
The main change is the Search Term Landing Page report. It connects the search term, delivered headline, final URL and performance metrics, giving advertisers a clearer view of whether Microsoft Ads is matching intent to the right advert and page.
Why do PMax device exclusions matter?
PMax device exclusions matter because they stop spend entering devices that fail the business case. If mobile or tablet traffic creates poor lead quality or weak revenue, campaign-level exclusions give advertisers a direct control instead of relying on automation to infer the problem.
Should UK advertisers use LinkedIn segments in Microsoft Ads?
Yes, but only with a clear B2B test plan. LinkedIn segments should be built around attributes that predict sales value, such as job function, industry or company size. The success metric should be qualified lead rate or revenue, not form volume alone.
Does this update prove Performance Max incrementality?
No. The update improves visibility and control, but it does not prove incrementality. Advertisers still need clean conversion tracking, brand separation, sales quality data and controlled tests to understand whether PMax is creating new demand or capturing demand that already existed.
What should advertisers do first with the new report?
Build a mismatch report showing search term, delivered headline, final URL, spend and conversions. Sort by spend, identify journeys where intent and destination do not match, then fix routing, copy, exclusions or landing pages before scaling budget.
