AdPlug
Guide · Microsoft Ads to Claude

How to Connect Microsoft Ads to Claude

Connecting Claude to Microsoft Ads (the old Bing Ads) lets it read your Microsoft Advertising data and make changes you approve, from search terms to LinkedIn profile targeting. This guide covers the five setup steps with screenshots, the first prompts worth running, and how to copy Google Ads campaigns across.

Updated 2026-10-03 · 6 minute read

Microsoft Ads MCP server URL

Paste this into Claude when you add a custom connector.

https://api.adplug.app/mcp/microsoft-ads
Sign up freeSee setup steps →Example prompts →

01

Two ways to connect, and who each is for

Microsoft's own MCP server

Microsoft runs a Microsoft Advertising MCP server. In June 2026 Microsoft described it as an open pilot with read-only access. Its setup guide has you install the Azure CLI, register your own Entra ID app, and add Claude's callback address to it with a command. Free, and fine for reporting if someone on the team is happy in a terminal.

A hosted MCP connector (this guide)

AdPlug's Microsoft Ads MCP covers reporting, search terms, LinkedIn profile targeting, keyword research, Google Ads imports, and campaign changes you preview first. You sign in with Microsoft and add one address to Claude. The same connection also works in ChatGPT, Cursor, and Claude Code.

02

Which Claude plans can do this

Custom connectors work on Claude's Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, on claude.ai and the desktop app, per Anthropic's custom connector guide. The Free plan allows one custom connector, so if you already use one, either swap it or use AdPlug's all-platforms address, which carries Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Microsoft Ads together.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors. Each member then connects their own account from Settings → Connectors.

03

Setup in 5 steps

From a new AdPlug account to Claude answering questions about your Microsoft Ads data takes about three minutes. There's no Azure app or developer token to set up.

  1. Create your AdPlug account

    Go to adplug.app/signup, sign in with Google or email, and follow the short onboarding. It ends on your AdPlug dashboard.

    AdPlug Create your account screen with a Continue with Google button and name, email and password fields.
    AdPlug sign-up. One click with Google, or an email and password.

  2. Connect Microsoft Ads to AdPlug

    On the dashboard, click Connect Microsoft Ads (or open the Connections page). AdPlug takes you through Microsoft's own sign-in; use the Microsoft account that opens ads.microsoft.com for you, work or personal, and approve the permissions Microsoft lists. Every ad account that sign-in can reach becomes available to Claude through the one connection.

    AdPlug Ad Platform Connections page with an arrow pointing to the Connect Microsoft Ads button on the Microsoft Ads card.
    Click Connect Microsoft Ads to start Microsoft's sign-in.

    Seeing Need admin approval?

    Your organisation has switched off app consent for its users. Ask your IT admin to approve AdPlug in Microsoft Entra, or sign in with the account that owns the ads.

  3. Add the connector to Claude

    In Claude, open Settings → Connectors (or go straight to claude.ai/customize/connectors) and click Add custom connector. Name it AdPlug - Microsoft Ads, paste the address below, and click Add.

    https://api.adplug.app/mcp/microsoft-ads
    Claude's Add custom connector dialog with a connector name and an AdPlug MCP server URL filled in, above the Add button.
    Claude's Add custom connector dialog, captured with the Google Ads example. Use the Microsoft Ads name and address above.

    Your AdPlug dashboard shows the same name and address with copy buttons, if you would rather copy than type.

    Claude card on the AdPlug dashboard marked Connected, showing the server name AdPlug - Microsoft Ads and the MCP URL https://api.adplug.app/mcp/microsoft-ads, each with a Copy button, above three setup steps.
    The Claude card on your AdPlug dashboard, with Microsoft Ads only selected. It turns green once Claude is connected.

  4. Authorise Claude to use AdPlug

    Click Connect on the new connector. Claude opens AdPlug's sign-in: use the same email as your AdPlug account and click Approve. The connector turns Connected and its eleven Microsoft Ads tools are ready in any new chat.

    AdPlug Authorize access screen asking whether an application may access your AdPlug account, with Deny and Approve buttons.
    AdPlug's authorise screen. Approve to let Claude use your AdPlug connection.

  5. Test the connection

    Start a new chat with the connector switched on in the tools menu and ask:

    “List my Microsoft Ads accounts.”

    Claude calls the microsoft_ads_list_accounts tool and returns the ad accounts your Microsoft sign-in can reach, with currencies and statuses. If your accounts are listed, the connection works end to end.

    Claude answering 'List my Microsoft Ads accounts' through the AdPlug - Microsoft Ads connector, showing each account's name, ID, currency and status.
    Claude's reply to the test prompt, with the AdPlug - Microsoft Ads connector on.

04

What you can ask Claude

These work as soon as the account is connected. More copy-paste prompts, including a full Microsoft Ads audit, live in the prompt playbooks.

List your Microsoft Ads accounts

“List my Microsoft Ads accounts.”

Weekly movers

“Compare my Microsoft Ads campaigns for the last 7 days against the previous 7. Flag the biggest spend and CPA movers, and tell me where I'm losing impression share to budget versus rank.”

Search-term waste

“Pull the search query report for the last 30 days, list the terms that spent money without converting, and suggest negatives with the right match type. Preview them, don't add them yet.”

Who saw the ads

“Which companies, industries, and job functions saw and clicked my Microsoft Ads in the last 30 days? Use the LinkedIn profile data.”

Copy a Google campaign

“Copy my best Google Ads Search campaign into Microsoft Ads, paused, and show me the plan before anything is created.”

Keyword research

“Find keyword ideas for project management software in Microsoft's keyword planner, with monthly volume and suggested bids, grouped by theme.”

05

Copy Google Ads campaigns across

Most Microsoft accounts start as a copy of Google, and most copies drift. With Google Ads and Microsoft Ads both connected to AdPlug, Claude can copy one Google Ads Search campaign or all of them, and show you the full plan before anything is created.

The copy covers budget, bidding, languages, locations with their exclusions and bid adjustments, ad schedule, device adjustments, ad groups, keywords with their final URLs, negatives, responsive search ads with their pins, and sitelink, callout, snippet, and call assets. New campaigns land paused. If the two accounts use different currencies, Claude asks for the exchange rate first.

What doesn't come across

Only Search campaigns are copied. Performance Max, Shopping, Display, Video, Demand Gen, and App campaigns are listed as skipped, and a campaign whose name already exists in Microsoft Ads is left alone, so a second run picks up where the first stopped.

“Copy my best Google Ads Search campaign into Microsoft Ads, paused, and show me the plan before anything is created.”

06

How changes work

AdPlug gives Claude two tools for campaign changes. A preview tool returns the exact change (the campaign, the field, the new value) without applying it. An execute tool applies it. Ask for the preview first, and keep Claude asking for your permission before it uses the execute tool rather than allowing it every time.

New campaigns, ad groups, and ads start paused, so nothing spends until you switch it on. The free plan is view only; creating and editing campaigns needs a paid AdPlug plan. Report calls and executed changes are recorded in your AdPlug Usage and Audit Log.

07

Troubleshooting

Click any item to expand the answer.

Microsoft shows Need admin approval
Your organisation has switched off app consent for its users. Ask your IT admin to approve AdPlug in Microsoft Entra, or sign in with the Microsoft account that owns the ads.
Claude returns zero Microsoft Ads accounts
Microsoft has two kinds of sign-in, personal and work or school, and the picker remembers whichever you used last. Open ads.microsoft.com and check which account shows your ads, then disconnect and reconnect on the Connections page with that one.
Claude does not use the connector
Connectors are switched on per chat. Open the tools menu in the message box and make sure AdPlug - Microsoft Ads is on, or name it in the prompt: “Use AdPlug to list my Microsoft Ads accounts.”
I can't add a second custom connector
Claude's Free plan allows one custom connector. Remove the old one, or use the all-platforms address https://api.adplug.app/mcp, which carries Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Microsoft Ads in one connector.
A change is refused on the free plan
AdPlug's free plan can read but not edit, and the reply says so. Creating or changing campaigns needs a paid plan.
The numbers do not match Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft can take a few hours to settle reporting data, and conversions can arrive later still. For exact reconciliation, ask for a date range ending yesterday and treat today's spend as provisional.

08

Questions people ask

Can I connect Claude to Microsoft Ads?
Yes. Microsoft runs its own Microsoft Advertising MCP server, which it described in June 2026 as an open pilot with read-only access; its Claude setup has you register your own Entra ID app with the Azure CLI. AdPlug is a hosted connector: you sign in with Microsoft, add one address to Claude, and get reporting plus campaign changes you preview first.
Which Claude plans can add a custom connector?
Custom connectors work on Claude's Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, on the web and the desktop app. The Free plan allows one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds the connector under Organization settings, Connectors, and each member then connects their own account.
Do I need a developer token or an Azure app?
No. AdPlug brings its own Microsoft Advertising API access, so there's no developer token to request and no Entra ID (Azure) app to register. You sign in with the Microsoft account you already use for Microsoft Advertising, work or personal.
Can Claude create and edit Microsoft Ads campaigns?
Yes, on a paid AdPlug plan: campaigns, ad groups, responsive search ads, keywords, negatives, budgets, bids, LinkedIn profile targeting, Performance Max asset groups, and conversion goals. Every change goes through a preview you confirm, and anything new starts paused.
Can Claude copy my Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Ads?
Yes, when both platforms are connected to AdPlug. Ask Claude to copy one Google Ads Search campaign or all of them, and it previews the plan first: budget, bidding, locations, languages, schedule, keywords, responsive search ads, negatives, and extensions. Everything is created paused, and campaigns that already exist are skipped, so it's safe to run twice.
Is connecting Claude to Microsoft Ads free?
AdPlug's free plan is view only: one ad platform, unlimited ad accounts, 500 requests in the first month and 50 a month after that. Creating or editing campaigns, and connecting a second platform for Google Ads imports, needs a paid AdPlug plan.
Does the same connector work in ChatGPT, Cursor, or Claude Code?
Yes. https://api.adplug.app/mcp/microsoft-ads is a standard MCP server, so the same connection works in Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other MCP clients. https://api.adplug.app/mcp carries Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Microsoft Ads together for cross-channel questions.