Microsoft announced today the launch of the Microsoft Audience Network, a new AI-based display platform for advertisers that uses data from Bing, LinkedIn and others to target audiences. Powered by the Microsoft Graph, the new advertising network will help marketers reach their ideal customers across various online properties including MSN.com, Outlook.com, Microsoft’s Edge browser and “select high quality partner sites.”
“Microsoft Audience Network is built on Bing Ads platform and is powered by machine learning to guide audience segmentation, engagement prediction, personalized offer selection, and return on investment management,” explained Rik van der Kooi, the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Advertising. “It also offers the convenience and power of a unified platform with Bing Ads, building on our search intelligence with a familiar experience, all to help deliver a great ROI.”
The new network appears to be sensitive to the problems facing Facebook and others regarding privacy, according to the blog post:
As the use of data increases in our day to day lives, we continue to be deeply committed to privacy and to earning the trust of our customers. We anonymize and secure all data in our advertising systems, prioritize brand safety, and do not allow targeting based on any sensitive categories.
As noted by Search Engine Land, the Microsoft Audience Network will only be available in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia at launch, and it will also be privacy- and GDPR-compliant for the UK market. Marketers are invited to contact their Bing Ads account representative to learn more about the new audience marketing solution.
