//Native networks · Updated November 2, 2026
Microsoft ads: what’s winning right now
Microsoft Advertising’s audience ads are native ads on the Microsoft Audience Network: Microsoft’s own sites and apps, such as MSN and Outlook.com, and partner publishers. You buy them in the same Microsoft Advertising account as Bing search ads. Microsoft builds each ad from parts you upload (pictures, headlines and descriptions) and mixes them to fit each placement, so every part has to work on its own.
What’s winning on Microsoft right now
Only 0 of the week’s 1,824 most-bought native ads ran on Microsoft, from 0 advertisers. That is too few to say what wins on Microsoft alone, so the winning formulas below are from every native network. The rules and specs further down are Microsoft’s own.
Winning formulas across native this week
Each is the psychology and kind of photo several different advertisers keep paying for, with how many use it and how long their ads have run. A winning formula is the idea, not anyone’s ad: make your own version for your product.
Product held in hand for scale
- 12 advertisers
- 19 ads
- 17 days running (median)
- Shopping & gadgets
- The product in a hand
Close-up shots of a small product held between fingers or in the palm to show size, detail and tactile appeal.
Isolated studio product shot
- 11 advertisers
- 18 ads
- 45 days running (median)
- Shopping & gadgets
- Clean product shots
Clean studio or gradient backgrounds that isolate a single product (or set of variants) so shape, color and specs are front-and-center.
Close-up cash or money imagery
- 9 advertisers
- 11 ads
- 46 days running (median)
- Finance & insurance
- Money, checks and benefits
Tight shots of bills, stacks, rolls, gold or money-counting machines that instantly signal payouts, savings or monetary value.
Watch the rules: Avoid anything that looks like an official notice, a government seal or a fake check: networks reject those.
Side-by-side before/after comparisons
- 8 advertisers
- 25 ads
- 59 days running (median)
- Beauty & anti-aging
- Before-and-after comparisons
Shows a direct visual transformation (split, two-panel, or side-by-side) to promise visible results from the product or treatment, letting viewers quickly judge effectiveness.
Watch the rules: These are running on the networks right now, so a before/after in the same form is fair game. Keep it honest and no more extreme than the ones already running.
Carefree moments of the target customer
- 8 advertisers
- 10 ads
- 13 days running (median)
- Seniors & Medicare
- The customer in a good moment
Shows older adults enjoying relaxed, social or joyful scenes to sell the desired 'after' lifestyle and emotional benefit of a product or service.
Watch the rules: Keep people fully dressed in ordinary poses: suggestive shots get rejected.
See them with blurred real examples, space by space, on What’s winning.
See this week’s top native ads on every network in the free native ad library.
Microsoft ad specs
From Microsoft’s own help pages, checked October 2026. Networks change these, so check them in your account before a big upload.
| Image ratio | Two shapes are required: 1.91:1 landscape and 1:1 square. Microsoft also crops your picture to 1.78:1, 1.5:1 and 1.33:1 for other placements. |
|---|---|
| Image size | 1.91:1: 1200 x 628 px recommended, minimum 703 x 368. 1:1: 1200 x 1200 px recommended, minimum 300 x 300. |
| File | JPEG, PNG or GIF without animation. Up to 5 MB, and no more than 2592 x 2048 px, per Microsoft’s ad API documentation. |
| Headlines | Short headline up to 30 characters (up to 15 of them per ad) and long headline up to 90 characters (up to 5). |
| Description | Up to 90 characters (up to 5 per ad). |
| Business name | Up to 25 characters. |
| Text on the image | Microsoft doesn’t allow text overlays, and advises against logos on the picture: they get cut off or distorted in small placements. |
What we deliver: Every picture we make comes in four sizes from one image: 1200 x 674 for Taboola, 1200 x 628 and 1200 x 1200 for Microsoft, and 1200 x 800 for Outbrain, Revcontent and MGID. For Microsoft, upload the 1200 x 628 file as the 1.91:1 image and the 1200 x 1200 file as the 1:1 image: both are Microsoft’s recommended sizes. The subject is kept in the centre so Microsoft’s other crops still work. Headlines are written to 60 characters or fewer, which fits Microsoft’s 90-character long headline; the 30-character short headline needs a shorter cut.
Every network side by side: native ad image sizes.
Rules that get Microsoft ads rejected
The picture rules below come from Microsoft’s published policies. Each comes with the fix we use when a winning idea breaks one: keep the idea, change how it’s shown.
Text or logos laid over the picture
Instead: A plain photograph. Put the words in the headlines and description, where Microsoft can fit them to each placement.
Pictures focused on cleavage, genitals or buttocks, and sexually suggestive images
Instead: Show the whole person, fully dressed, in an ordinary pose.
Scare tactics, and scary or threatening images
Instead: A calm, believable moment: the person living with the problem, not the fear of it.
Depictions of body parts, cross sections of organs and bodily functions
Instead: Match the close-ups winners already run on Microsoft, never more extreme. Otherwise show the person or the everyday object tied to the problem.
Graphic or violent images, such as blood
Instead: Show the person or the everyday object, never the injury.
Every network’s rules in one place: why native ads get rejected.
How to launch and test on Microsoft
- Upload both required shapes, the 1200 x 628 landscape and the 1200 x 1200 square, so Microsoft doesn’t have to cut the square out of the landscape.
- Add several short headlines, long headlines and descriptions. Microsoft mixes them across placements, so each one has to make sense on its own.
- Check every picture in Microsoft’s ad preview before saving: it is cropped to other shapes, so keep the subject in the centre.
- Keep the leaders, cut the losers, and add one new picture per round built on a winning formula from your space.
The step that matters most is the last one: a steady supply of new pictures built on what is already working. That is the part ConvertBetterAds does for you. See how to test native ads for the full method.
Sources
Microsoft Advertising: audience ads · Microsoft Advertising: best practices for audience ad images · Microsoft Advertising: image guidelines and policies · Microsoft Advertising API: responsive ad (audience ad) limits · Microsoft Advertising: offensive, harmful or violent content · Microsoft Advertising: media formats
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What image sizes do Microsoft audience ads need?
Two shapes are required: a 1.91:1 landscape picture (1200 x 628 px recommended, 703 x 368 minimum) and a 1:1 square (1200 x 1200 recommended, 300 x 300 minimum). JPEG, PNG or a GIF without animation, up to 5 MB. Microsoft crops them to other shapes for some placements.
How long can Microsoft audience ad headlines be?
The short headline can be up to 30 characters and the long headline up to 90. The description can also be up to 90 characters, and the business name up to 25.
Can I put text on a Microsoft audience ad picture?
No. Microsoft doesn’t allow text overlays and advises against logos on the picture, because they are cut off or distorted in smaller placements. Put the words in the headlines and description instead.
Is the Microsoft Audience Network the same as Bing ads?
They are bought in the same Microsoft Advertising account, but they are different placements. Search ads show next to Bing results; audience ads are native ads shown on Microsoft’s sites and partner publishers, with a picture, and readers are browsing rather than searching.
How much of the native ads you track run on Microsoft?
In the week of November 2, 2026, 0 of the 1,824 most-bought native ads we read ran on Microsoft (0%), from 0 advertisers. That share reflects what public native ad libraries see, not Microsoft’s size.
Keep reading
- Native ad image sizes for every networkNative ad image sizes, ratios and headline limits for Taboola, Microsoft, Outbrain, Revcontent and MGID in…
- Native ad headlines that keep runningHow long native ad headlines are, and which traits show up more on ads that have run for a month than on…
- Why native ads get rejectedThe picture and headline rules that get native ads rejected on Taboola, Microsoft, Outbrain, Revcontent…
- How to test native adsHow to test native ad pictures and headlines on Taboola, Microsoft, Outbrain, Revcontent and MGID: what to…
- Taboola ads: what’s winning right nowWhat’s winning in Taboola ads, from this week’s most-bought native ads: winning formulas, how long winners…
- Outbrain ads: what’s winning right nowWhat’s winning in Outbrain ads: winning formulas with real evidence, Outbrain’s image size and headline…
What’s winning this week, space by space → · Native Winners, free every Monday →
Figures from our research for the week of November 2, 2026: the most-bought native ads in the US from public native ad libraries. They count ads, advertisers, days running and placements, never anyone’s clicks or sales.