Microsoft Enhances AI Assistant Connection For Ad Budget Tracking
Microsoft Advertising's AI assistant connection now retrieves changes to ad budgets, bids, and campaign status, providing marketers with more account records to examine. This update aims to help marketers investigate changes in their ad spending.
Original reporting · searchenginewatch.com
Original: “Microsoft lets your AI assistant trace changes to your ad budget”
Read “Microsoft lets your AI assistant trace changes to your ad budget” at Search Engine Watch →
How this was written. The 5:45 wrote this article with a language model from Search Engine Watch’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Search Engine Watch’s report
- Microsoft Advertising's AI assistant connection now retrieves changes to ad budgets, bids, and campaign status.
- The connection uses Model Context Protocol (MCP) and provides read-only access to account changes.
- The GetChangeHistory tool returns previous and updated values alongside the actor who made the change.
- Results arrive newest first, without a sorting option, and the default window is 30 days.
- Users need to authorize the advertising connection using either a personal Microsoft account or a work or school account.
Microsoft Advertising has updated its connection for AI assistants to retrieve changes to ad budgets, bids, and campaign status, according to Search Engine Watch. This update adds tools for account change history and creative performance, giving marketers more data to analyze in AI conversations.
The connection uses Model Context Protocol (MCP), which allows an assistant to request information from an external service. Microsoft's tools are read-only, meaning they cannot alter campaigns, but can provide valuable insights into account changes.
The GetChangeHistory tool returns previous and updated values alongside the actor who made the change, which can be a person, application, or system process. This information can be used to investigate changes in ad spending, such as a sudden jump in spending.
Results from the GetChangeHistory tool arrive newest first, without a sorting option, and the default window is 30 days. Custom dates must fall within the preceding 180 days through the current day. It is essential to keep the account, campaign, and dates attached to the answer when sharing it with a colleague to ensure a plausible explanation is not detached from the supporting records.
Microsoft also warns against adding performance across rows that share an asset ID, as repeated rows do not necessarily mean repeated edits. The GetAssets tool retrieves records for creative materials, including images and video, and returns performance for their individual uses.
To use the AI assistant connection, users need to authorize the advertising connection using either a personal Microsoft account or a work or school account, provided they already have access to the relevant ad accounts. Access to the AI client is a separate requirement, and users should follow the instructions for the client they use before planning a shared reporting workflow.
Microsoft's setup guide covers various AI clients, including Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot in VS Code, ChatGPT, and Claude. By following the guide, marketers can set up the AI assistant connection and start analyzing their ad account changes and performance.
Questions and answers
What is the purpose of the GetChangeHistory tool?
The GetChangeHistory tool returns previous and updated values alongside the actor who made the change, helping marketers investigate changes in their ad spending.
Can the AI assistant connection alter campaigns?
No, Microsoft's tools are read-only, meaning they cannot alter campaigns.
What is the default window for results from the GetChangeHistory tool?
The default window is 30 days, and custom dates must fall within the preceding 180 days through the current day.
