From 1 October 2026, advertisers creating new standalone campaigns using strategies including Maximise Conversions, Maximise Conversion Value and Maximise Clicks will no longer be able to apply a Max CPC cap.
Microsoft has also confirmed the restriction will apply to Target CPA and Target ROAS campaigns. Existing campaigns already using Max CPC will, for now, retain the setting.
For advertisers, the direction of travel is clear: Microsoft wants bidding decisions to be driven increasingly by conversion data, value signals and performance targets rather than manual CPC controls.
What Is Changing?
Max CPC has traditionally given advertisers a relatively simple safeguard: regardless of how aggressively the bidding algorithm behaves, the platform cannot exceed a defined maximum bid.
That control is now disappearing from a growing number of Microsoft Ads campaign types.
From 1 October, Max CPC will no longer be available when creating new standalone campaigns using:
- Maximise Conversions
- Maximise Conversion Value
- Maximise Clicks
- Target CPA
- Target ROAS
There are some important exceptions.
Existing campaigns already using Max CPC will continue to support it for the time being, while portfolio bidding strategies, Target Impression Share and eCPC will retain Max CPC functionality.
However, there is an important catch.
Once Max CPC is removed from an eligible existing campaign after the deadline, Microsoft says advertisers will not be able to add it back.
For API users, third-party tools and Google Import, Microsoft has also outlined a further deadline of 12 January, after which Max CPC will no longer be supported for new campaigns or campaigns that were not already using it.
Why Is Microsoft Removing Max CPC?
Microsoft’s argument is that CPC caps can work against automated bidding.
A campaign using Target ROAS, for example, is effectively telling Microsoft:
Generate as much conversion value as possible while maintaining this return.
Adding a restrictive CPC ceiling gives the algorithm a second instruction which may prevent it from entering auctions where it believes a valuable conversion is likely.
Microsoft says this can interfere with bidding optimisation and create inconsistencies in spend pacing.
Instead, Microsoft wants advertisers to control performance through signals more closely connected to business outcomes, including:
- Target CPA
- Target ROAS
- Campaign budgets
- Conversion values
- Conversion value rules
- Seasonality adjustments
It is another indication of where paid search platforms are heading.
The platforms increasingly want advertisers to define what a good customer or conversion looks like, while allowing the algorithm more freedom over how much it pays to acquire them.
The Bigger Shift: CPC Matters Less Than The Outcome
For experienced PPC teams, the removal of another bidding control will inevitably create some concern.
There are legitimate reasons advertisers use CPC caps.
They can prevent algorithms from paying disproportionately high amounts for individual clicks, particularly in expensive B2B, finance or highly competitive search markets.
But focusing too heavily on CPC can also lead advertisers towards the wrong optimisation objective.
A £2 click that never converts is more expensive than a £12 click that generates a highly profitable customer.
As bidding systems become more sophisticated, the more important question becomes:
Did the platform acquire the right customer at the right economics?
That means the quality of the data being passed back into Microsoft Ads becomes significantly more important.
Better Conversion Data Becomes Critical
Removing bidding controls only works effectively if the algorithm receives strong conversion signals.
This is where many advertisers are likely to see very different outcomes.
Accounts with accurate conversion tracking, meaningful conversion values and strong first-party data are much better positioned to benefit from automated bidding.
Accounts optimising towards weak or incomplete signals may struggle.
For ecommerce brands, Microsoft should ideally understand more than the fact that an order occurred.
Where possible, advertisers should be passing signals that help distinguish between different levels of commercial value.
That could include:
- Transaction revenue
- Margin-adjusted values
- New versus returning customers
- Product category profitability
- Offline sales
- Qualified leads
- Closed revenue
The more accurately the advertising platform understands the commercial value of different conversions, the more useful automated bidding becomes.
What Should Advertisers Do Before October?
The first step is not to immediately remove CPC caps across every Microsoft Ads campaign.
Instead, advertisers should use the period before the change to understand how their campaigns behave without them.
Microsoft is actively encouraging advertisers to test removing Max CPC using experiments before the deadline.
At 360 OM, we would recommend focusing on four areas.
1. Audit your conversion tracking
Before giving automated bidding more freedom, make sure the platform is optimising towards the right events.
Check whether primary conversions genuinely represent valuable business outcomes.
Lead generation advertisers should be particularly careful about optimising towards low-intent form fills rather than qualified or closed opportunities.
2. Review your Target CPA and Target ROAS settings
Targets increasingly become the primary control mechanism.
Targets that are too restrictive can suppress volume, while targets that are too loose may allow spend to increase without sufficient return.
The objective should be to find the point where efficiency and volume are commercially sustainable.
3. Monitor CPC distribution, not only average CPC
Average CPC can hide significant variation.
Once CPC caps disappear, advertisers should monitor whether Microsoft begins paying substantially more for individual auctions and whether those higher bids correlate with stronger conversion rates or conversion values.
Higher CPCs are not automatically a problem.
Higher CPCs without improved commercial outcomes are.
4. Test before peak trading periods
For retailers in particular, waiting until Black Friday or Christmas trading periods to understand the impact would be risky.
Testing bidding behaviour now gives advertisers time to understand how Microsoft responds when given greater auction flexibility.
Our View
Microsoft’s change is unlikely to be the last bidding control that disappears from paid search.
Google and Microsoft have both been steadily moving towards systems where advertisers provide goals, budgets, creative, audience signals and conversion data while the platform increasingly determines how campaigns are executed.
That does not mean PPC management becomes less important.
It changes where the value sits.
The strongest performance teams will spend less time manually controlling individual bids and more time improving:
measurement, data quality, value signals, account structure, creative inputs and commercial targets.
There is also a broader lesson here.
Automation performs best when the platform understands your business economics.
If Microsoft Ads only knows that a conversion happened, it has limited context.
If it understands that one customer is worth £50, another £500 and another £5,000, the algorithm has a considerably better chance of making useful bidding decisions.
The removal of Max CPC is therefore less about losing one PPC control and more about the continued shift towards value-led paid media optimisation.
For advertisers, the priority should be making sure the signals being fed into the algorithm are strong enough to justify giving it more control.
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
.png)
