Microsoft Advertiser: Exact Match Trumps Ad Rank On AI Surfaces & More

Dec 26, 2025 - 7:11 am 0 — by
Filed Under Bing Ads

Microsoft Ads

Navah Hopkins, the Ads Liaison for Microsoft Advertising, made it crystal clear that exact match is prioritized even over Ad Rank. Navah Hopkins wrote on X and LinkedIn, "Exact match will get the priority if it's there, otherwise Ad Rank determines everything."

Navah Hopkins posted a nice video explaining this and wrote:

If you're running a PMax and Search campaign they might also have overlap. An exact match keyword in a Search campaign will always win over PMax. Beyond that, it goes to Ad Rank.

We do not block exact match from causing an ad to serve in Copilot, it's just that the odds of a conversation exactly matching the exact match keyword are very low. Broad match and PMax have a higher probability of serving.

What is Ad Rank made up of?

  • Your bid amount
  • Ad performance (e.g., click-through rate)
  • Ad relevance
  • Ad extensions
  • Other competing ads

Here is the video but click through to read more:

Forum discussion at X and LinkedIn.

 

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