Open Connections in Bytown, choose Connect on the Microsoft Ads card, sign in with Microsoft and pick your Microsoft Advertising account. The card turns Active, and your campaigns show up in dashboards and chat.
- Login: a personal Microsoft account or a work or school account with admin or standard access.
- Changes: budgets, status, bids and negative keywords wait on an approval card for your yes.
- Google winners: Bytown copies one to Microsoft once, when you ask. It starts paused and never syncs daily.
- Cost: Pro is US$199/mo for 1 ad platform, Microsoft included. Max covers every platform.
Published by Bytown: how to connect a Microsoft Advertising account to Bytown, what you need before you start, and what Bytown can and can't do with it once it's in.
Connecting Microsoft Ads is the same 4 steps as connecting Google Ads. You sign in with Microsoft instead of Google, pick the ad account, and you're done in about a minute.
Bytown is my company, so weigh my view with that in mind. The steps below match our own Connect Microsoft Ads docs page word for word, so the menus you see will have the same names.
What do you need before you connect?
3 things, and you probably have all of them already:
- A Microsoft Advertising account you can sign in to.
- A personal Microsoft account, such as Outlook or Hotmail, or a work or school account that has access to it.
- Admin or standard user access on that ad account, so Bytown can apply the changes you approve.
No Microsoft Advertising account yet? Create one with Microsoft first, then come back. Bytown connects to accounts held in your own name and never takes ownership of them.
How do you connect Microsoft Ads to Bytown?
In 4 steps, all from the Connections page in Bytown. You never share a password with us: you sign in on Microsoft's own page.
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Open Connections and choose Connect
Open Connections in the Bytown sidebar and find the Microsoft Ads card. Choose Connect. If an earlier attempt didn't finish, the card says Finish setup instead.
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Sign in with Microsoft
A popup opens on Microsoft's sign-in page. Sign in with the personal or work account that has access to your ad account.
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Choose the account
Bytown lists the Microsoft Advertising accounts that login can reach. Choose the one Bytown should use for this business.
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Check it's active
The card now shows Active. Choose Manage on the card to see the connected account.
That's the whole flow.
If the popup closes and nothing connects, your browser probably blocked it. Allow popups for ads.bytown.co and choose Connect again.
Picked the wrong account? Open Connections, choose Manage on the Microsoft Ads card, then Disconnect account, and connect again with the right login. Disconnecting removes the stored connection only. Your campaigns stay exactly as they are.
What happens after you connect?
Your Microsoft Ads campaigns appear in dashboards next to Google, Meta, LinkedIn and ChatGPT Ads, so spend and results add up in one view. The chat opens with the same first summary it gives a newly connected Google Ads account.
Here's the deal:
You don't need to learn Microsoft's interface to get answers out of it. Ask the way you'd ask a colleague. These 3 are a good start:
- "How did my Microsoft Ads campaigns do last week?"
- "Compare cost per lead on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads this month."
- "Which Microsoft Ads keywords spent money with zero conversions?"
The second one is the question I care about most. Microsoft Ads earns its place by cost per lead, so put it side by side with Google before you decide anything.
Can Bytown copy your winning Google Ads campaigns to Microsoft?
Yes. Ask in the chat, and Bytown stages a copy of the campaign on an approval card. The new Microsoft campaign starts paused.
That's how I started on my own accounts. Bytown read the Google campaigns that were already bringing in leads and built them in Microsoft Ads with "one click and one ask." It was done in 2 or 3 minutes, and within the first week, there were more leads coming from Microsoft.
On my accounts, the median business paid 14% less per lead and 38% less per click on Microsoft than on Google, though only 5 of the 10 got cheaper leads. The search demand and buying intent were already proven on Google, so the copy started from what worked. I typically move about 15% to 20% of the Google budget across.
Here's what the ask looks like. It's illustrative, on a demo account.
Copy my best Google Ads campaign to Microsoft Ads.
Campaign X brings your cheapest leads on Google Ads, so I've staged a copy of it for Microsoft Ads.
It will be created paused. Nothing happens until you confirm below.
Your best Google Ads campaign by cost per lead.
| Setting | Current | New |
|---|---|---|
| New campaign | — | Paused, awaiting your yes |
Turning the copy on is a second change you approve on its own. Copying needs Google Ads and Microsoft Ads connected to the same business, so it runs on the Max plan.
Here's the kicker:
Bytown copies the campaign once, when you ask. It never syncs it daily, so later edits in Google Ads don't carry over. Ask again whenever you want a fresh copy.
That's deliberate. Microsoft and Google have slightly different settings, different bidding and different tracking parameters, so a daily sync is often dangerous. I've watched people sync every single day, and the sync just pulls the budgets from Google. Microsoft can completely overspend.
Prefer to copy by hand? Microsoft has its own import tool for that, shown below. Run it once rather than on a schedule, for the same reason.
Which setup fits you?
Answer 3 questions and the right setup lights up in the table.
Not sure? Start with Connect only. Every other row builds on the same 4 steps, so nothing you do now gets redone later.
What can Bytown change on Microsoft Ads?
Budgets, campaign and ad group status, keyword bids and negative keywords (the searches you block your ads from). Each change is staged on an approval card and applies only after you approve it.
| Change | Example | How it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign budget | Raise a daily budget on a campaign that's bringing leads | Staged, applies after your yes |
| Campaign status | Pause or turn on a campaign | Staged, applies after your yes |
| Ad group status | Pause or turn on an ad group | Staged, applies after your yes |
| Keyword bids | Lower the bid on a keyword that costs too much | Staged, applies after your yes |
| Negative keywords | Block search terms that waste money | Staged, applies after your yes |
| New Search campaign | Build a campaign from your brief, or copy one from Google Ads | Created paused; turning it on is a second approval |
What Bytown doesn't do
- It doesn't sync Google Ads and Microsoft Ads daily. A copy happens once, when you ask.
- It doesn't apply anything without your yes. No approval, no change.
- It doesn't touch your ad spend. Microsoft bills it to your own payment method, and it never passes through Bytown.
- It doesn't change your campaigns when you disconnect. They keep running exactly as they are in Microsoft Ads.
Where Bytown is today (Oct 18, 2026)
Bytown connects Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Microsoft Ads and ChatGPT Ads. Pro is US$199 a month for 1 ad account on 1 platform, and that platform can be Microsoft Ads. Max is US$449 a month for every platform.
New customers get 30% off the first month, so Pro starts at $139 and Max at $314. Want people involved? Advisors adds a dedicated expert for US$199 a month on top of Pro or Max, and Done for you starts at US$799 a month.
FAQ
Can I connect with a work or school account?
Yes. Bytown accepts a personal Microsoft account, such as Outlook or Hotmail, and a work or school account. Use whichever login has access to your Microsoft Advertising account. Bytown then lists every ad account that login can open, and you choose the one for this business.
Why isn't my Microsoft Advertising account listed?
The login you used can't reach it. Sign in with the Microsoft account that manages the ad account, or ask the account owner to add that login as a user first. Then choose Disconnect account and connect again. Bytown only lists the accounts your own login can open.
Does Bytown keep Google Ads and Microsoft Ads in sync?
No. Bytown copies a Google Ads campaign to Microsoft Ads once, when you ask, and the copy starts paused. After that the 2 campaigns are separate, so changes in one don't carry over. Ask Bytown for a fresh copy whenever you want the latest version.
Does Bytown spend money on Microsoft Ads without asking?
No. Every budget, bid, status or keyword change waits on an approval card until you approve it. New campaigns, including copies from Google Ads, start paused. Your ad spend is billed by Microsoft on your own payment method and never passes through Bytown.
How do I disconnect Microsoft Ads?
Open Connections, choose Manage on the Microsoft Ads card, then choose Disconnect account. That removes the stored connection, so Bytown stops reading your results and can't stage new changes. Your campaigns keep running exactly as they are, and you can reconnect any time.
What does Bytown cost with Microsoft Ads?
Pro is US$199 a month for 1 ad account on 1 platform, and that can be Microsoft Ads. Max is US$449 a month for every platform, which you need to copy Google campaigns across. New customers get 30% off the first month. Ad spend is separate and paid to Microsoft.
Sources
- Bytown Docs, "Connect Microsoft Ads": bytown.co/docs
- Bytown Docs, "Approvals": bytown.co/docs
- Bytown prices: bytown.co/pricing, checked October 11, 2026.
- Microsoft Advertising on YouTube, "Import campaigns from Google Ads into Microsoft Advertising", April 18, 2024: youtube.com
- Copy time and budget share: my own Microsoft Ads accounts run through Bytown, October 2026. Cost per click and cost per lead against Google: 10 US businesses running both platforms, March–September 2026, pulled from the connected ad accounts through Bytown on October 17, 2026; the page reports the median business.
Connect Microsoft Ads in about a minute
Sign in with Microsoft, pick your ad account, and Bytown reports on it next to Google, Meta, LinkedIn and ChatGPT Ads. Every change waits for your yes. Flat monthly price, no % of your ad spend, and you keep your ad accounts.
Try Bytown Or read the step-by-step Connect Microsoft Ads docs page.