According to Search Engine Roundtable (20 August 2026), Microsoft Advertising is making AI Max available to all advertisers worldwide, opt-in, in Search campaigns: term matching, text customisation and final URL expansion, with brand controls from launch. At Activate 2026 (19 May), Microsoft highlighted Copilot diagnostics, Performance Max improvements and reporting; it claims about an 8% lift in incremental conversions with Performance Max, a Microsoft figure. The blog page gives no dates or markets per feature.
What was announced in August
Search Engine Roundtable reported, on 20 August 2026, that Microsoft Advertising is bringing AI Max to all advertisers worldwide, who can switch it on in account settings for their Search campaigns. The announcement was made by Navah Hopkins, Microsoft Ads Liaison, on LinkedIn.
AI Max includes search term matching (queries beyond the keyword list), text customisation (generates and tests additional messaging) and final URL expansion (routes to the page best fitting intent).
Controls and opt-in
The source indicates brand controls, including term exclusions for text generation, reporting and choice from day one, ad group-level settings, URL rules and optimisation experiments to test the three features together or separately. Generated assets are labelled and editable.
AI Max stays opt-in for new and existing campaigns. The source warns that auto-generated text assets and predictive matching tested before moved into AI Max, so those settings may already be on in some Search campaigns.
Eight-week test on Microsoft Advertising
- Import and review a stable Search campaign
- Weeks 1 to 4: baseline without AI Max
- Weeks 5 to 8: AI Max in an experiment
- Measure cost per qualified lead or sale
- Decide to keep, adjust or stop
What Activate 2026 added
At Activate 2026 (19 May), according to Microsoft’s blog of 19 June, news included: custom columns with conversion metrics such as lifetime value and average order value; search term insights in Performance Max; bid strategy reporting and cross-account portfolio bidding; Copilot root cause diagnostics, including troubleshooting of conversion tracking; AI-generated creative with brand controls; and audience and content improvements, including LinkedIn targeting.
The page gives no dates or markets for the features.
The 8% claim
Microsoft states about an 8% increase in incremental conversions with Performance Max. It’s the company’s own number, with no methodology on the cited page. As with any platform claim, treat it as a hypothesis to test in your account, with experiments, not as a forecast.
The same applies to other promotional numbers: always ask for sample, period and control group.
The aim isn't to prove Microsoft is better. It's to know whether it's worth an additional channel.
When Microsoft Advertising makes sense in Portugal
We have no reliable data on Bing’s market share in Portugal nor on comparative cost per click, so we claim no price advantages. It makes sense to consider the test when you have stable Search campaigns on Google, want to diversify, your audience includes desktop users in professional settings (B2B) or uses the Microsoft ecosystem (Edge, Windows, Copilot), and you can measure results separately.
If budget is small, concentrate first on the main channel.
Importing from Google: advantages and care
Microsoft highlights Import Center improvements to migrate from Google, Meta and Pinterest. Importing saves time, but review: budgets, bidding strategies, keywords, match types, location, language, extensions and conversions. The source warns that imported campaigns keep AI Max settings and that campaigns originating from upgraded DSA revert to DSA on import.
Don’t import and forget: review one by one and start with a limited budget.
An eight-week test
Week 0: import a stable Search campaign, review and switch on conversion tracking. Weeks 1 to 4: without AI Max, to create a baseline. Weeks 5 to 8: with AI Max in an experiment, or comparing equivalent campaigns. Measure cost per qualified lead or sale, quality and volume. Decision: keep, adjust or stop.
The aim isn’t to prove Microsoft is better, it’s to know whether it’s worth an additional channel.
Questions for your manager
Do we use Microsoft Advertising? If not, what data do we have to decide to test? What brand controls and exclusions did you configure in AI Max? How do we measure results separately from Google? What budget and stop criteria do you propose?
If you want to assess whether Microsoft Advertising deserves a test in your account, with limited budget and clear criteria, I can help design the plan and the reading of results.
Summary in three lines
Microsoft’s AI Max is opt-in and reached all accounts, according to Search Engine Roundtable. Performance claims are the company’s. Test with limited budget, brand controls and stop criteria, and measure separately from Google.
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft's AI Max on by default?
It’s opt-in, according to the source, but settings tested before moved into AI Max and may already be on in some campaigns.
Is the 8% lift guaranteed?
No: it’s a Microsoft figure, with no methodology on the page. Test in your account.
Is Microsoft Advertising cheaper in Portugal?
We have no reliable data to say so. Measure in your account.
Sources consulted
Keep reading
- FTC complaint against Amazon over hidden ad surcharges: what is alleged and what every advertiser should learn
- Amazon Ads Agent and DVA+: what Amazon announced on 29 September, what is claim and what to verify
- Microsoft Advertising in October 2026: Performance Max draft, messaging guidelines, Conversions API and 18+ ads