Microsoft Ads to Enforce Consent Mode: What Advertisers Need to Know

If you're advertising in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, a critical update is coming your way. Starting May 5, 2024, Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) will require all advertisers using Universal Event Tracking (UET) to implement Consent Mode. Failure to comply could lead to significant data gaps, reduced tracking accuracy, and a measurable decline in campaign performance.

What’s Changing?

Microsoft Ads is fundamentally tightening its stance on user consent to align with evolving privacy regulations. Previously, advertisers could track user interactions even without explicit consent. Moving forward, if a user does not grant permission, Microsoft will completely block data collection for ad performance tracking. This means:

• Severely limited visibility into user behavior and conversion paths
• Significantly weakened remarketing capabilities and audience building
• Potential inefficiencies in ad spend allocation and optimization
• Reduced ability to measure ROAS accurately

What Advertisers Need to Do

To ensure compliance and maintain data integrity, advertisers must integrate Consent Mode into their UET setup. This ensures that tracking aligns with GDPR and other privacy regulations, only collecting data when a user has explicitly opted in.

For implementation, Microsoft provides guidance, and CMP platforms like UniConsent offer streamlined solutions to help businesses adapt seamlessly.

Why This Matters

This shift is not just a regulatory requirement—it’s a fundamental change in how advertisers can collect and leverage data. Without proper consent mechanisms in place, you risk losing crucial insights that drive campaign optimization. Conversion tracking could be incomplete, audience lists may shrink, and overall ad performance could suffer.

Next Steps

Act now to integrate Consent Mode before the enforcement deadline. Delays could lead to tracking disruptions that impact your advertising effectiveness. Ensuring compliance now means protecting your data, maintaining ad performance, and respecting user privacy—all essential for long-term success.

Need a straightforward way to implement these changes? Check out UniConsent’s guide for a step-by-step approach.