Microsoft Audience Ads are native display advertisements served across MSN, Outlook.com, Microsoft Edge New Tab, and Microsoft's content partner network. They reach Microsoft's 35+ million monthly Australian touchpoints with native ad formats that blend into editorial content — high-attention placements with lower competition than Google Display.
Microsoft Audience Ads (formerly Microsoft Audience Network) are native advertising placements across Microsoft's owned-and-operated content properties — MSN (news, finance, sport, entertainment), Outlook.com (email), Microsoft Edge New Tab page, and Microsoft's extended partner network. They appear as native content recommendations — "You might also like" style units that blend with editorial content rather than interrupting it. Microsoft Audience Ads use AI-powered contextual and behavioural targeting, with the unique addition of LinkedIn demographic signals for B2B audience layering. For businesses wanting display reach beyond Google's network, Microsoft Audience Ads access a distinct, complementary set of content placements with a demographic profile that skews toward professional and higher-income users — the people who use Outlook for work email and MSN as a default news source on Windows devices.
Microsoft's owned properties — MSN, Outlook, Edge New Tab — are among the most-visited websites in Australia, driven by Windows' dominant position in corporate and home computing. These placements are not available through Google Display Network. Microsoft Audience Ads therefore reach an audience that is additive to Google Display, not duplicative. The demographic profile of Microsoft's content audience skews toward 35–65 year olds, higher household income, and corporate computer users — the same profile that makes Bing Search valuable for financial services, professional services, and home improvement categories. Native ad formats on MSN news pages and Outlook sidebar placements also benefit from being adjacent to high-quality editorial content, which improves brand association compared to long-tail Display Network placements.
monthly touchpoints across Microsoft's owned and partner network in Australia — MSN, Outlook, Edge, and partners (Microsoft, 2025)
increase in brand visibility through impressions for a business running display across Google and Microsoft channels (Scalepoint client, FY25)
higher conversion rate when display retargeting is added alongside Search campaigns — Microsoft Audience Ads contribute to this lift (Google and Microsoft combined research)
Microsoft Audience Ads offer three targeting approaches not available on Google Display — we use all three where relevant.
Microsoft's in-market audiences identify users who are actively researching products or services in your category based on recent search and browsing behaviour across Microsoft's network. These audiences are curated by Microsoft's AI and updated continuously — reaching prospects who are in the buying window for your category.
Microsoft Audience Ads uniquely support LinkedIn profile data as targeting layers — job title, company, industry, and seniority — applied to display placements. For B2B businesses, this means reaching the Operations Manager or Finance Director with a display ad on MSN or Outlook, not just on LinkedIn's own platform.
Custom audiences from your website visitors served display ads on MSN, Outlook, and Edge — retargeting your warm audiences on a different content network than Google Display. For businesses already running Google Display remarketing, Microsoft Audience Ads extend remarketing reach to placements Google cannot access.
Contextual targeting places your ads alongside editorial content on MSN that matches your category — financial services ads in MSN Finance, home improvement ads in MSN Lifestyle. Contextual alignment between ad and content improves relevance and click-through rates.
Microsoft Audience Ads use native formats — image, headline, description, and brand name — that render as recommended content rather than banner ads. This reduces banner blindness and improves engagement rates compared to standard display formats, particularly on premium editorial placements on MSN.
Microsoft Audience Ads support Target CPA bidding — telling Microsoft's algorithm the cost per conversion you are willing to pay and letting it optimise impression delivery toward the placements and audiences most likely to convert. We set up Target CPA bidding once sufficient conversion data is available.
LinkedIn Ads are expensive per impression. Microsoft Audience Ads deliver LinkedIn-targeted display impressions on MSN and Outlook at a fraction of LinkedIn's CPM — reaching the same professional audience in a different, complementary context.
Microsoft's content audience is concentrated in the 35–65 demographic that spends time on MSN news, Outlook email, and Windows devices. For categories where this demographic is the primary buyer — home improvement, financial services, healthcare, professional services — Microsoft Audience Ads reach them in their daily digital environment.
Google Display remarketing reaches website visitors on Google's partner network. Microsoft Audience Ads reach the same visitors on Microsoft's separate content network. Combined, they provide broader multi-touchpoint reach that improves overall conversion rates from warm audiences.
MSN Finance, MSN News, and MSN Real Estate are high-traffic editorial properties. Businesses in financial services, real estate, home improvement, and professional services benefit from contextual adjacency to these content categories — appearing as relevant native recommendations rather than display ads.
No call required. Tell us your business and goals — we send back a written audit within 3 business days.