Microsoft revamps advertising tracking, consent features

Microsoft is rolling out significant updates to its advertising platform, focusing on household attribution and regulatory compliance.

Household attribution:

• Tracks ad engagement across devices in the same household
• Helps advertisers:
  • Match cross-device ad interactions – Match ads served on one device to conversions on another.
  • Gain deeper audience insights – Gain visibility into cross-device behavior, particularly for high-consideration products.
  • Optimize campaign performance – Use actionable insights to improve campaign performance.

Consent compliance upgrades. To comply with regulations in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, Microsoft Advertising offers new tools for managing end-user consent. Features include:

• UET Consent Mode – Adjusts Microsoft tags based on user consent status.
• Transparency and Consent Framework 2.0 – Allows consent signals to be passed through CMPs like Usercentrics Cookiebot CMP and Web CMP.
• Google Tag Manager integration – Enables direct retrieval of consent states for seamless compliance.

Store traffic measurement pause. Microsoft is temporarily halting two measurement features:

• Store Visits (FourSquare) – paused starting Dec. 31.
• Footfall Measurement (AdSquare) – paused as of Dec. 1.

Historical data remains accessible.

Why we care. These updates provide more sophisticated ways to track and understand customer behavior across devices, ensuring more accurate targeting and campaign performance.

The household attribution feature allows for a more comprehensive view of your customer’s interactions, potentially improving conversion rates by connecting ad exposure across multiple devices.

Additionally, the new consent compliance tools help you navigate complex privacy regulations, reducing the risk of non-compliance while maintaining effective advertising strategies.

What’s next. You can now leverage these new tools to improve targeting and compliance strategies.