Microsoft has confirmed it is changing its Bing Ads policy towards weapons. Starting July 1, 2018, there will be more restrictions on how companies and manufacturers advertise guns. Recreational guns like “bb guns, paintball guns, or air rifles” will not be accepted by Microsoft’s search engine after that date.
Under the new policy terms, Bing Ads will also clamp down on ads for weapon accessories, such as attachments and reloading products. Microsoft points out that it already banned advertising weapons and ammunition.
The company says the further restrictions have been implemented to bring consistency to Bing policies:
“This change will also help reduce confusion about products advertised. Many of the recreational type guns like air rifles look like real guns and consumers may be led to click on offers that are different than their expectations. Finally, this change responds to the feedback from Bing Ads publishers who have similar policies in place.
This policy change won’t impact accessories that are not attachable to a weapon or aid in the reloading process – they will still be allowed. Some examples of these products include safety equipment like goggles, earplugs, gun safes, cleaning kits, holsters, and concealed carry clothing.”
Adobe Launch Integration
Last week, Microsoft announced a collaboration with Adobe through Bing Ads and the Launch cloud platform. Bing now has Universal Event Tracking (UET) through the Launch advanced tag system.
Now the Adobe Cloud Platform Launch is integrated with Bing Ads and Universal Event Tracking. UET tags help campaigns by bringing several key features to users. For example, conversion tracking, automated bidding, and reporting insights all come with UET.
