Import Google Ads to Microsoft Ads: Steps and Checks

You already run Google Ads, and now you want to try Microsoft Advertising, the platform that serves ads on Bing, without building every campaign again by hand. The good news is that you can import Google Ads to Microsoft Ads from inside your Microsoft account, and the tool copies a large part of your campaign structure. The part that trips people up is what happens after the copy finishes. A budget can come across higher than you set it, conversion tracking does not carry over by itself, and a recurring import can quietly overwrite changes you made on the Microsoft side. This page walks through the job in the order you do it: pick campaigns, run the import, read the log, fix the gaps, check the settings that cost money, and start a small test. It uses Microsoft's own help pages, including the import reference updated June 18, 2026. If you are still deciding whether Bing deserves your time, read whether Bing is worth it for a small business first and come back here for the mechanics.

How do you pick the campaigns worth importing?

Do not start by importing the whole account. The import tool lets you select campaigns one at a time, and a smaller first batch is easier to check. Choose search campaigns that already produce calls or form leads, point to landing pages that load well on a phone, and have a conversion goal you trust. Leave out experiments, old campaigns you meant to delete, and anything with an open policy problem. If you run Shopping campaigns, remember that Microsoft needs a Merchant Center store before those can work, so they are a second project, not part of the first test.

Write the list down before you open Microsoft Advertising. A short list keeps you from importing a campaign just because it is there, and it gives you something to compare against when you read the import log later.

How do you run the import step by step?

Sign in to Microsoft Advertising and open Import, then choose Import from Google Ads. Microsoft's import help page describes two routes. Quick import uses default settings. Customize lets you set which campaigns come across, how bids and budgets are handled, campaign statuses, and which UET tag to associate. For a first import, Customize is the safer choice because you see each decision before it runs.

1. Choose Import, then Import from Google Ads.
2. Sign in to your Google account and select the source account.
3. Select the campaigns on your shortlist.
4. Pick Quick import, or Customize if you want control over bids, budgets, statuses and the UET association.
5. Choose Once for the first run, not a recurring schedule.
6. Run the import and open the summary.

Microsoft says supported campaigns, ads, targets, ad extensions, keywords, negative keywords, landing page URLs, tracking templates, labels, bids and budgets transfer. Google Performance Max campaigns import as Microsoft Performance Max campaigns, or as Search campaigns in some cases. Google Demand Gen campaigns import as Audience campaigns. Choosing a single run keeps the first result easy to read, because nothing will change on its own afterward.

What do you fix after the import finishes?

Open the import summary before you touch anything else. Microsoft lists what was skipped, changed or needs attention, and that list is your to-do list. Microsoft's own help says some items and settings need special attention after an import, and the table above shows the common ones. Work through them in order of what costs money first.

The biggest gap is measurement. A Microsoft UET tag is separate from Google conversion tracking, so Microsoft will not count your leads until a UET tag is on your site and you have created Microsoft conversion goals. Microsoft's Universal Event Tracking guide explains that one UET tag can support several conversion goals and remarketing lists, so you do not need a new tag for every goal. After it is installed, submit a test form or place a test call and confirm the goal records it. If you track calls or forms in Google today, the same thinking applies on the Microsoft side; see how to track phone calls from Google Ads and how to track contact form leads in Google Analytics, and for the Bing side after you spend, how to see which Bing ads turn into customers.

Next, rebuild what did not come across. Google Analytics remarketing lists, customer lists, affinity audiences, app user audiences and detailed demographic audiences are not imported. Automated rules and IP exclusions are not imported either, though you can recreate them. Video files need to be uploaded again. Rebuild only the pieces that earned their place in your Google account.

How do you keep a scheduled import from overwriting your changes?

This step is easy to skip, and it is the one that can undo your work. Microsoft offers Auto, Now, Once, Daily, Weekly and Monthly import schedules. Auto lets Microsoft choose a varying schedule. A recurring import fetches changes from Google Ads and updates the linked Microsoft campaigns. Microsoft says a linked campaign can be updated regardless of changes made directly in either platform. So, if you lower a budget or pause a campaign in Microsoft and a scheduled import runs later, that edit can be replaced by the Google setting.

You have two clean ways to handle it. If Microsoft is becoming the place where you manage that campaign, open Import schedule and history and turn the schedule off. If you want Google to stay the main account, keep the schedule but switch off updates for the things you want to control in Microsoft, such as budgets, bids or statuses. Whichever you choose, read the import log after every scheduled run. Microsoft's Google Import guide and the GoogleImportOption reference describe the options behind these settings.

Decide one owner for each campaign and write it down. A campaign that two platforms both think they own is the one that surprises you on the invoice.

Which settings should you check before you spend a dollar?

Imported does not mean ready. Microsoft says minimum bids and budgets differ between the two platforms, and it can raise imported values that fall below its minimums unless that option is turned off. Currency can also be converted automatically, so confirm the amounts in your Microsoft account match what you meant to spend.

Location is the next place to look. Microsoft says Google and Microsoft targeting options differ significantly, so open each campaign and confirm the places you serve and the places you exclude. Our post on Google Ads location targeting covers the same decisions on the Google side. Then check campaign and ad group schedules, time zones, device adjustments and language. If you run an ad schedule in Google, the ad schedule guide is a useful companion.

Review negative keywords too. Google broad match negatives become phrase match negatives in Microsoft Advertising, which can block a different set of searches than you intended. Our guide to Google Ads negative keywords explains match types and how to build the list. Finally, open every landing page, including mobile URLs, tracking templates and redirects, and confirm your ads are approved and any required assets are present.

How do you run a small test you can trust?

With the fixes done, start small. Turn on only a few of the imported campaigns and set a daily budget you have agreed to lose if the test goes nowhere. Keep the import schedule off during this first stretch so nothing is overwritten while you learn how Microsoft behaves with your account. Our article on what Google Ads cost can help you set a sensible figure to start from.

A ten minute run through looks like this. In the first minute, confirm your shortlist and drop anything unready. In minutes two to four, run the one-time import with Customize. In minutes five and six, check currency, budgets, locations, schedules, negatives and final URLs. In minutes seven and eight, confirm the UET tag is on every page of your site. In minutes nine and ten, set the capped test budget, read the import log once more, and leave recurring imports off until you have looked at real results. Microsoft's own interface and options can change, so check the date on any help page you rely on.

When the test has run, compare Microsoft's results to your goals using your own conversion data, not guesses. Add the next campaign only when the first batch tracks leads and stays inside its budget. Microsoft also offers experiments for small businesses if you want a structured way to test changes later.

When can you do this yourself, and when does help make sense?

For a few simple search campaigns with working landing pages, a careful import is a job you can often handle alone. Microsoft gives you a direct workflow, and the steps above cover it. If you want to know more about running your own account, can you run Google Ads yourself lays out the trade-offs.

Help starts to pay for itself when the account is more complicated. Shopping campaigns with a product feed, Performance Max, offline conversions, several locations, or a schedule that could change Microsoft-side work are all places where a small mistake costs money. In those cases the useful work is not pressing the import button. It is validating the transfer, installing and testing UET, reconciling conversion goals, checking URLs and policy issues, and setting who owns future changes. If you are comparing what that help costs, Google Ads management fees shows what monthly management should include.

Advertising claims also travel with the ads. The FTC's advertising guidance says claims must be truthful, not misleading and backed by evidence before you publish them, and an ad approved on Google is not automatically right for Microsoft's policies or for the law.

Frequently Asked Questions About import google ads to microsoft ads

Can I import Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Advertising?

Yes. In Microsoft Advertising, choose Import, then Import from Google Ads, and pick Quick import or Customize.

What transfers when I import?

Supported campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, ad extensions, targeting settings, landing page URLs, negative keywords, bids, budgets and labels, according to Microsoft's import help.

Does my conversion tracking move over?

No. Install a Microsoft UET tag and create Microsoft conversion goals, then test them with a real or test lead.

Will my budget stay the same?

Not always. Microsoft can raise imported budgets and bids that fall below its minimums, and it can convert currency, so confirm the amounts before delivery.

What happens to my Google negative keywords?

They import, but broad match negatives become phrase match negatives. Review the list so it still blocks what you want blocked.

How do I stop Microsoft from changing my campaigns after an import?

Open Import schedule and history and turn off the recurring schedule, or switch off updates for budgets, bids or statuses you want to control in Microsoft.

The Bottom Line

The import is a head start, not a finished account. Pick a few campaigns that already earn their keep, run Import from Google Ads once, read the log, rebuild the audiences, videos and rules that do not transfer, and set up UET before you spend. Then check budgets, locations, negatives and landing pages, and keep the schedule off until you know who owns each campaign.

That order protects your money. A small capped test tells you more than a full account copy, and it keeps a silent mismatch from running up costs while you wait for results. Add campaigns one batch at a time, and check Microsoft's help pages for changes before each new import.

If you would rather have someone else handle the tracking, the settings checks and the first test, we can do that. Web Leveling runs pay-per-click advertising for small businesses, and you can contact us about importing your Google Ads campaigns to talk through your account. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas.

Terms