Microsoft Ads gets granular with new asset-level reviews

Microsoft Advertising is revamping its approach to enforcing ad policy compliance. Instead of disapproving entire ads outright, it now reviews individual ad assets (e.g., headlines, descriptions, and images).

This move gives advertisers more flexibility and less disruption when policy issues arise. Instead of pulling down full ads, Microsoft can now flag only the problematic elements, allowing the rest of the ad to keep running as long as the minimum number of approved assets are still present.

• “This change lets campaigns stay live and efficient, even while updates are under review,” Microsoft wrote in the recent announcement (which was shared by Hana Kobzová, founder of PPC News Feed).

What’s new.

• Headlines, descriptions, and images are each reviewed separately for compliance.
• Ads stay active if enough approved assets remain, minimizing performance loss.
• Updated delivery status alerts:
  • Most assets disapproved.
  • Essential assets disapproved.

Why we care. Advertisers no longer need to fear that a single image or headline tweak could take an entire ad offline. Instead of pausing an entire ad due to one disapproved asset, Microsoft Advertising now reviews each component individually, so approved elements can continue running.

This reduces downtime, preserves performance, and minimizes disruption during edits or policy reviews. It’s a step toward more efficient campaign management with less risk to delivery.

Yes, but. Appeals and disapproval emails at the asset level aren’t available yet, but are in the pipeline.

Bottom line. Microsoft Advertising is taking a smarter, more surgical approach to policy enforcement – keeping ads live and performance intact while still holding every asset accountable.