Bing Ads - Audiences

Send the ClickPatrol classification to Microsoft Advertising as a UET custom event, then use it to build separate remarketing lists for legitimate and suspicious visitors. The suspicious list can then be excluded from your campaigns, while the legitimate list can be used for retargeting.

Important check#

Before building audiences in Microsoft Advertising, make sure you have the following in place:

• The ClickPatrol Tag installed in Google Tag Manager, with the ClickPatrol Event Trigger covered in that article
• The Bing UTM template added to your ads according to the Bing Ads integration article
• Visible Bing traffic under Reports in your ClickPatrol dashboard
• A UET tag (Universal Event Tracking) created in Microsoft Advertising that fires on every page, for example by using the built-in Microsoft Advertising Universal Event Tracking tag in Tag Manager

How it works#

Remarketing lists in Microsoft Advertising are built from the data recorded by the UET tag. UET records page visits and also accepts custom events containing an action, category, label and value. Those same fields can define a remarketing list. As with Meta, send the ClickPatrol_Legitimate and ClickPatrol_Suspicious events from Tag Manager to UET, then use the event name to filter each list.

Step 1: Send the ClickPatrol events to UET#

1. Open Tags in Tag Manager, then click New.
2. For the tag type, choose Microsoft Advertising Universal Event Tracking.
3. Use the same UET tag ID as your page view tag.
4. For Track type, choose Custom conversion.
5. Enter the built-in variable {{Event}} in the Event action field. The ClickPatrol event name (ClickPatrol_Legitimate or ClickPatrol_Suspicious) is then passed as the action.
6. For Triggering, choose the ClickPatrol Event Trigger created during the Tag Manager setup.
7. Give the tag a name (for example, UET - ClickPatrol events), then click Save.
8. Publish the container by clicking Submit.

For verification, click Preview in Tag Manager and open your site after appending ?source=f to the URL. This simulates ad traffic. In Tag Assistant, select the ClickPatrol event and check that the UET tag is listed under Tags Fired.

Step 2: Build the remarketing lists in Microsoft Advertising#

1. From the Microsoft Advertising navigation menu, open Tools > Audiences.
2. Click Create, then provide a name such as CP Legitimate 30d.
3. Select Remarketing list for Type, then click Next.
4. At Tag name, choose your page view UET tag.
5. At Whom to add to your audience, select the custom events option. Set this condition: Action equals ClickPatrol_Legitimate.
6. Choose the membership duration. This determines how far back Microsoft Advertising checks for matching actions (for example, 30 days).
7. Save the list. Repeat these steps for CP Suspicious 30d, using the value ClickPatrol_Suspicious.

Microsoft Advertising only starts serving on a remarketing list once it reaches a minimum of 300 users. Because the list begins filling only when the UET tag starts receiving the events, allow a few days for a new list to build.

Step 3: Use the lists#

• Exclusion first: add CP Suspicious as an exclusion for your campaigns or ad groups. This stops you from paying to reach traffic again after ClickPatrol has already flagged it.
• Retargeting: add CP Legitimate as a targeted audience with a bid adjustment, or include it in a dedicated remarketing campaign.

Building audiences with ClickPatrol: best practices explains why exclusion should come first and how to prove its effect on your cost per lead.

Monitor the traffic in ClickPatrol#

Your campaign, ad group and keyword are passed through the Bing UTM template. The ClickPatrol dashboard can therefore show, for each campaign, how much Bing traffic was classified as legitimate or suspicious. In Reports, identify campaigns or keywords with a high suspicious share, then tighten their targeting in Microsoft Advertising.

Notes#

• When the custom event condition finds no members, check that the container has been published and that Tag Assistant shows the UET tag firing on a ClickPatrol event.
• Only ad traffic carrying the UTM and source parameters triggers ClickPatrol events. The lists therefore contain classified ad visitors rather than organic traffic.
• Leave your base UET page view tag on All Pages. It supports conversion goals across all traffic, while the ClickPatrol event tag supplements it rather than replacing it.