How to run Bing Ads: insights from practitioners

Bing Ads is a source where people scam on training and consumables, selling outdated information/water and autoregs at the price of a mega-farm. We decided that there should be at least one article about Microsoft Ads, so we talked to those who were willing to share information about the source. You’ll learn how to run campaigns with Bing Ads and whether it is profitable to work with nutra in this source.

In Microsoft Ads, there are several advertising formats. In this material, we are discussing Responsive Search Ads.

Who we’re talking to:

• Andrey, a solo affiliate marketer;
• EXXE, the owner of a Bing Ads account shop.

General information about Bing

Is it allowed to advertise nutra, crypto, and gambling on Bing? Which verticals work well there? What can be run from this source? 

EXXE: SS/Trial nutra works well for sure, especially cosmetics. VPNs work, insurance. In general, everything works on Bing that is run on tier-1-2 countries.

Here you can see where the clicks on the ad came from

This screenshot displays clicks, impressions, CTR, average cost per click, and spend.

Andrey: The source has proven itself excellently for running gambling, crypto, and sweepstakes - at least in my experience. They work well for me.

You can run anything if you really know how. 

Which GEOs can you work with in Bing?

Andrey: There are actually many GEOs, but you need to understand that the primary traffic in this source is American, approximately 80%. Moreover, this traffic is mature and financially capable; it perfectly understands what investments, capital preservation, and funding a casino with crypto mean.

Percentage by countries. Source.

EXXE: Most of the traffic here is from tier-1 GEOs. Tier-2 is also present, but the coverage is small.

What volumes can you achieve from this source? Please provide statistics on the campaigns so that our readers understand the volumes.

Andrey: Volumes vary for everyone. It depends on the quality of the material, skills, and Bing's mood.

EXXE: Daily spend of up to $1500 is possible. If you want more volume, you need to make a call to support.

Can you do solo ad campaigns on Bing?

Andrey: Yes, I work with this source solo.

EXXE: It depends on how you run the campaigns and the methods you use.

What are the differences between Bing and platforms like Facebook and Google?

Andrey: Compared to Facebook, Bing provides targeted search traffic. I can't say much more about it.

As for Google, I can make a comparison. Bing will tell you for sure whether you'll be running ads within 24 hours. In other words, just creating a campaign is a 50/50 chance. If you don't get banned within 24 hours, then everything depends on you. When working with Google, it's definitely a roller coaster ride. Banned accounts are either unbanned in large numbers or you end up writing five appeals just to be able to run ads. So, Bing is more predictable when it comes to ad campaigns.

EXXE: The source itself is cheaper than Google. Clicks here are cheaper. But when it comes to consumables, you'll spend much more money on them than when running campaigns on Google.

What is the main challenge with Bing?

Andrey: The challenge with Bing is that there are no exact and specific manuals. 

Also, starting from August 28, there was an update where Bing requires verification within 30 days. And this isn't just uploading a regular photo like on Facebook – it's a full verification process with head tilts, as if you're setting up a Face ID on a brand-new iPhone :) I think this verification requirement appeared because of the webmasters newcomers to this source.

EXXE: The main challenge with Bing is mainly in payments and coverage. 

How to scale correctly while maintaining the cost per click at an acceptable level?

Andrey: Scaling is possible only by creating new placements and optimizing campaigns.

EXXE: You can scale by launching new campaigns from a single account. It's the same as with Google.

How to lower the cost per click? Are there any specific solutions or strategies?

Andrey: Work with different keywords.

Is there click fraud in Bing Ads? How can you notice it? What to do if an ad is getting clicked very actively?

Andrey: Click fraud does exist. Each person has their own protection, so I can't reveal everything.

What to do? Don't run competitive offers, find your own working style. 

How to solve the problem of an optimal cost per click? For example, a high bid results in a lot of traffic and low ROI, while a low bid results in little traffic but high ROI. Do you have solutions to this problem?

Andrey: The system is similar to Google. Those who work with it have a pretty good understanding of how to optimize the costs for the optimal price.

How quickly does an account get banned for nutra/crypto/gambling?

Andrey: It varies. An account can get banned within a week or within a year. For instance, I have some gray projects that have been running for years. They have a small ROI but continue to work constantly thanks to good masking and site whitening.

EXXE: I'll give you an example. One guy was running from my account (after it was unbanned) for 2 weeks. The daily spend was around $200-300. He was constantly receiving ad disapprovals with the reason being “Finance”. He’d edit the ad and continue running it.

In general, there are several types of accounts:

• autoregs - not a popular option;
• farms - this is self-explanatory;
• unbanned - trusted accounts, but they are challenging to create (as of September);
• agency accounts.

Here's what the unbanning message looks like.

Can a blatantly pornographic creative or something like “Elon Musk created his own cryptocurrency” pass moderation, or do you still have to create “veiled” creatives?

Andrey: Unfortunately, explicit content, including direct keywords, is almost impossible to get through. Moderation has become more strict with such matters nowadays.

Threshold for entry and spending cap in Bing Ads 

What is the minimum budget required to work with Bing Ads? How does the cost of this source compare to Facebook and Google? How much do you spend on testing a single offer in Bing?

Andrey: You can easily reduce the minimum budget through agency accounts – this eliminates the complexity of linking cards and accessing the account. There are downsides: you can't promote everything you want. Finding an agency in our time is quite difficult, so I decided to independently sign a contract, pay an agency fee, and work as a representative to be able to successfully promote. I won't go into details; it's a topic for independent research.

How much can one buyer spend on Bing? What is the limit?

Andrey: The spending cap for a buyer is his own time. I'll repeat it: Bing is easy in the sense that within 24 hours, you'll know for sure whether you'll be able to run or not.

How much can be spent from a single account in Bing?

Andrey: If it's an agency account, I usually start with the minimum amount, which is $250.

Consumables

Now let's talk about consumables, but first a small digression:

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Register and reach out to our managers - they’ll provide converting offers. And if you are a high-volume partner, negotiate bumping up the rates right from the start.

Payment methods

Which payment methods are linked to Bing? There was previous information that only physical cards are connected, and you need to find drop accounts. It's preferable that the payment method is from the USA. How is the situation with this now? Can virtual payment methods be used?

Andrey: Payments are a very sensitive topic for Bing, and honestly, I haven't fully explored it yet. Personally, I use American banking services such as Bank of America, Chase Bank, given that there I can issue the same cards myself. I strongly discourage using virtual services; you'll simply kill your account.

So, you need to introduce the payment method to Bing beforehand. For example, you can use services like Xbox or Skype. This way, Bing will recognize that the card belongs to you.

EXXE: I don't recommend using public virtual payments. It doesn't work with Microsoft Ads. But occasionally, you can still push through a virtual one — a good farm can solve this issue.

As for private payments, even virtual ones work well. Access to such payments starts from $500.

You can also link a German IBAN. But, as my clients have mentioned, you can't spend more than $100 from an IBAN.

Shops

Are there any reliable shops with accounts for Bing Ads now, or do you have to farm them yourself? I've heard there are many scammers because everyone is trying to get into Bing.

Andrey: Unfortunately, there's a shortage of legitimate shops currently, and I can't honestly recommend anyone. Your best bet is to search on your own. Yes, there are indeed quite a few scammers.

EXXE: There are literally 1-3 shops, but the prices there are high. It's not worth overpaying; it's better to spend money on tests and simply learn to do them yourself or with a team.

I mainly create farms and accounts with cards for my own use or sell them to my buyers in small bulk quantities. As far as I know, they make spend+ and then resell further on forums.

On average, farming costs about $60. If an account is linked with a card and has a $50 bill — it's around $200.

Prepay 

Are there prepay accounts in Bing? What bill do they provide?

Andrey: There is prepay, and the amount depends on the quality of the cards. I haven't received a prepay less than a hundred.

EXXE: Yes, there is. I had $50 prepay on any geo (USA, CA, NL, IE), but sometimes it's $10. The first bill is around $40-60, whether it goes over that, I don't know.

Prepay accounts are sold for a percentage of the balance, and it varies for everyone, from 30-60%.

Agent accounts

Are there agent accounts or RDPs for Bing from which you can run nutra/gambling/crypto offers? Or is the only option to start from farms?

Andrey: There are agent accounts, and it's the easiest way to start. Many consumables are eliminated.

❗️ But accounts are hard to find; there's a lot of scams, plus not everyone is willing to work with nutra. For example, agencies won't agree to collaborate if you have an offer related to diabetes or if there are images of famous people and heads of state.

EXXE: There are agencies. I know Asgard. I was supposed to work with them, but it didn't work out. I'm not sure about the quality of their agency accounts; they use RDP. I've also found agencies in the USA and the UK, and Chinese agencies are popular too.

Here's what some guys who are running crypto offers told me: they run from agency accounts for two days, then they get banned. After that, the agency doesn't provide any more accounts :)

Proxies

What proxies are suitable for Bing? Private services only, or can public solutions be used as well? What proxy services do you recommend?

Andrey: Only private proxies. Mass-market proxies will get you banned.

EXXE: Many work with services like Bigmama and Nsocks. Proxies are a strange story with Bing. It works with both static and server-based proxies, IPv6-IPv4. It can fraud in waves, meaning you should alternate the proxy service selection, or you can simply jump from one service to another.

I mean, on any proxy, it’ll link to a card and may even start billing.

Trust account in Bing Ads

What is considered a trusted Bing account? How many days should an account be warmed up? What actions should be taken to make an account trusted with Bing?

Andrey: For myself, I've found the golden formula for farming  and it’s 5 days. There are many actions needed, including adding a company and personal information to the account.. There are many nuances, starting from the entry point and ending with having the same name for the physical account and the payment card.

EXXE: I determine it based on my criteria. For me, it's about generated cookie requests and how complete the profile is, as well as working with specific Microsoft services. I used to get a trial for Microsoft Office, and I could feel the difference. I don't do that anymore, so I can't say if it improves trust or not.

All the data should be entered manually, not copied – that's the basics, but I'll repeat it just in case.

You can also submit your landing page (website) to Bing Webmaster Tools, supposedly, it increases trust. But honestly, I tried it and didn't notice any effect. Maybe it works for someone, but my accounts didn't react much to these actions. It seems this technique might have been overused.

In Bing, you can go through verification as both a legal entity (advertiser) and an individual. Document generators won't pass.

Sometimes Bing asks for identity verification through methods other than submitting photos of passports or driver's licenses, but to undergo Face ID verification. This means the person must turn on their camera and perform certain gestures, for example. Some of my clients have passed this kind of verification using deepfakes: they initiated Face ID, but the face on the camera was a different one.

How often does non-document verification occur?

EXXE: It varies. We haven't noticed a pattern with our clients.

And what harms an account's trustworthiness?

Andrey: Rushing and quick spending can harm. 

EXXE: Having an excessive number of cookies accumulated in one day and frequently changing the billing information in Microsoft's billing system can also be detrimental.

Antidetect helps too. If Bing frequently asks you whether to save the device for login, it's a bad sign.

Interestingly, cookies don't have a significant impact on Ad accounts. If you've purchased an account as a “login and password”, you can just log in and run campaigns with it.

The most trusted accounts are unbanned accounts. They are often linked to various payment methods, even those that aren't linked to other types of accounts. However, this isn't a strict rule and doesn't always happen.

What emails should be used to create a Bing Ads account? Will Gmail work, or do you need Outlook or Yahoo?

Andrey: There used to be a moment when Outlook and Yahoo corporate accounts gave you a significant trust boost. Unfortunately, it's not the case anymore.

EXXE: I use Outlook for that.

In general, nowadays, arbitrageurs are switching to corporate emails that also need to be warmed up. They provide super trust to the account. To find them, look for sellers…

In the account settings, you’ll see its activity. This will help you understand if the account has been farmed at all.

Bans in Bing Ads

EXXE: Now my clients have noticed four types of bans:

1. Suspicious activity. It can happen for any reason at all. You tried to link a card, and the card didn't get linked - suspicious activity. You can even create an advertising account, and it’ll get suspended immediately. It depends on the trust level of the account and all the consumables.
2. General ban. This is a permanent ban, and it cannot be lifted from the account. It happens due to a bad payment method or low-quality farming.

Several internal bans in Ads:

1. Financial ads. Those who run cryptocurrency offers often encounter this restriction. 
2. Strikes. These have appeared quite recently, and my clients haven't yet figured out why Bing issues strikes.

Here's how strikes look.

In general, Bing has changed significantly in the last 2 months. Now, when you get a general ban, you’ll see a notification. It says that your account is blocked, and it lists all possible reasons for the ban. However, it won't specify the exact reason for the ban. Support also won't reveal the exact cause, they tend to provide standard responses. Always. 

There are cases where the “Submit an Appeal” button is not available. In such situations, you'll need to contact support, and they will prepare an appeal on your behalf.

Currently, accounts are unbanned within 4-5 days. I had one case where the account was unbanned in just 10 minutes.

Bing itself provides these timeframes:

• 10 days if the support compiles the appeal for you;
• 7 days if you submit the appeal yourself.

However, it can sometimes take longer for the appeal to be reviewed. For example, some of my accounts have been waiting for two weeks, even after submitting the appeal again.

Here's how the interface looks after submitting an appeal.

Google Ads and Bing Ads: comparison of sources

In this comparison table you’ll find the main differences between Bing and Google:

Bing is cheaper than Google in terms of cost per click, but in terms of consumables it’s several times more expensive.

If you've run Google Ads, Microsoft Ads won't be as challenging for you as if you were running Facebook Ads. In terms of mechanics, these two sources are similar: there's click fraud, there's a challenge to reduce the cost per click, and so on.

Starting from 2022, Microsoft Ads became available for advertising in Poland and the Czech Republic. While Bing is not as actively used in PL and CZ as Google, it also means there's less competition among arbitrageurs. 

For example, in Poland, Bing is used by approximately 1,125,000 people monthly, and you can find statistics for Bing usage in the Czech Republic as well.

Here is the statistics for Poland, where approximately 1 125 000 people use Bing monthly. You can also find statistics for Bing usage in the Czech Republic by following this link.

If you want to test a non-standard traffic source for nutra, you can register with ProfitPay. We have converting offers for Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as bumps from the start for senior webmasters.